The indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) on Tuesday fired the Israeli-origin Python-5 air-to-air missile (AAM) for the first time, paving the way for the short-range missile to be carried on the plane, officials familiar with the development said.
“Trials were also aimed to validate enhanced capability of already integrated Derby beyond visual range (BVR) AAM on Tejas. The test firing at Goa completed a series of missile trials to validate its performance under extremely challenging scenarios,” the defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The Derby missile achieved direct hit on a high-speed maneuvering aerial target and the Python missiles also achieved 100% hits, validating their complete capability, it added.
