Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has set himself a target – he wants India’s defence exports to reach $2 billion in the next two years, from the current level of $300 million. Indigenously developed defence products – be it India’s missiles, aircraft or helicopter – have generated interest in the global market, especially from African and Latin American countries. From HAL’s Light Combat Helicopter and LCA Tejas to BrahMos missile, we take a look at five defence products that India can look at exporting:

LCH ::

According to a PTI report, India is in talks with “certain” countries in Africa for possible export of the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL. Its features include sleek and narrow fuselage, tri-cycle crash worthy landing gear, crash worthy and self-sealing fuel tanks, armour protection, nuclear and low visibility features which makes the LCH lethal, agile and survivable.

Designed for anti-tank and anti-infantry roles with a maximum speed of 275 kilometers per hour, the LCH is also capable of high-altitude warfare since its operational ceiling will be 16,000 to 18,000 feet. “With great value for money, the helicopter is an attractive buy for many countries. The countries interested in the LCH in the current form do not need high features like air to air missiles. For them turret gun along with some other features work,” a senior defence official has said.

BRAHMOS ::

The supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos, which is a joint venture between India and Russia, has caught the attention of countries like Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Brazil in Latin America and also of South Africa, which is part of the BRICS grouping, because it has been developed at a low cost of $300 million. (Image: DRDO)

BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed by DRDO and Russian NPO Mashinostroyeniya. The missile can be launched from surface, submarine or air. Latin American countries as well as South East Asian countries have expressed their interest for the missile particularly for their naval and coastal defence.

The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km, has a maximum velocity of 2.8 Mach and cruises at altitudes varying from 10 metres to 15 km, claims BrahMos. It can be launched in either inclined or vertical configuration based on the type of the ship.

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas ::

India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, which was several years in the making, has now caught the attention of foreign buyers with Sri Lanka and Egypt evincing interest in the indigenously built fighter jet. Sri Lanka had recently rejected Pakistan’s JF-17 aircraft built with Chinese help, while Egypt had last year signed a contract for 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets. The two countries are interested in the current version of the Tejas and not the upgraded one which will be rolled out later.

Tejas is perhaps the world’s smallest lightweight, multi-role single engine tactical fighter aircraft. Tejas is equipped with a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system to ease handling by the pilot. It has intentionally been made longitudinally unstable to enhance manoeuvrability.

Two things that go in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and flying ability. Sources have told PTI that enquiries by foreign countries came during the Bahrain air show in January, the first time that Tejas flew outside the country. The decision to send Tejas abroad was of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has put his weight behind the aircraft.

AKASH Missile System ::

Parrikar recently said that India is willing to export the Akash missile system. Akash, a surface-to-air missile, has a range of 25 km. Akash mobile Air Defence Weapon System has been designed, developed and led to production by DRDO for defending and protecting the important assets of the country from penetrating aerial attacks.

AEW&C ::

AEW&C is one of the flagship programmes of DRDO consisting of state-of-theart Airborne Early Warning and Control system that can detect, identify and classify threats present in the surveillance area and act as a command and control centre to support variety of air operations. “AEW&C India” with Mission Systems, with modular design & integrated on an Embraer 145 aircraft, are very cost effective, claims DRDO. With an eye on export, the DRDO had exhibited the plane during air shows in the past.