SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
India’s Premier defense agency Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is considering the development of an Enclosed Weapons Pod (EWP) for Non-stealth fighter jets to reduce the Radar Cross section (RCS) while carrying a meaningful munitions load. idrw.org has been told that EWP will help not only reduce RCS but also drag and further improve the aircraft’s low-observability.
EWP is being considered for home-grown Tejas Mk1A and Mk2 fleet that due to high composite have low RCS signature, Mk2 even after being bigger jet has lower RCS then its predecessor. EWP will be a centerline pod that can carry around 1 ton of weapons that might include up to 4 Astra medium range air-to-air missiles or 6 SAAW missiles + 2 Astra or one 500kg laser-guided bomb.
Enhanced Weapons Pod will give stealthy weapon carriage capability to the aircraft in specific missions to improve flying qualities, drag, and signature levels. DRDO is planning to carry out feasibility studies of design and to measure signature levels and also if more than one EWP can be integrated into one aircraft and its effects on the airframe and its ability to manage high maneuvers. since it’s just a concept in the initial stage it’s not clear if it will see further movements.
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