IAF to probe how Tejas-fired bomb missed target

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force is conducting a probe as to how a bomb fired by the Light Combat Aircraft LCA Tejas missed its target during the exercise Iron fist 2016 at Pokhran Rajasthan on March 18

Updated At : 08:31 PM Mar 21, 2016 IST

A Tejas during the Iron Fist 2016 exercise in Pokhran on Friday. Tribune Photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 21

The Indian Air Force is conducting a probe as to how a bomb fired by the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, missed its target during the exercise ‘Iron Fist 2016’ at Pokhran, Rajasthan, on March 18.

The LCA, which is nearing final operational clearance, also fired a missile, ‘R 73 E’, which hit its target and was a success.

A senior IAF functionary gave a clean chit to the LCA, its firing mechanisms and also its pilots, saying a laser-guided bomb (LGB) missed the target. Such a miss is not a ‘big thing’. It is a very ordinary occurrence which can be corrected, the official said.

Three separate IAF fighter jets had fired the laser-guided bombs, and the one on the LCA failed. The bomb is made in India, while its laser-guidance mechanism is imported.