Tejas caps year with air-to-air missile success

摘要

India's Tejas light combat aircraft has fired the Vympel R-73 short-range air-to-air missile for the first time, capping an important year for the long-delayed programme. Conducted using the Tejas LSP-4 test aircraft flying out of an Indian naval air station near the city of Goa, the firing was monitored by a chase Tejas, which provided a real-time data and video link to a base station in Bangalore. "As a run-up to the impending initial operational clearance and release to service, a Tejas contingent has been operating from INS Hansa in Goa, conducting the last phase of flight trials," says India's Defence Research & Development Organisation.