On 23rd August 2023, LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas successfully test fired ASTRA missile, this missile is

Correct — option (2), Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile.

On 23 August 2023 the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fired Astra off the coast of Goa. The Hindu reported that day that Tejas "successfully fired the Astra indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile", quoting a Defence Ministry statement that all the objectives of the test were met.

The Ministry's Year End Review 2023, published on 22 December 2023, after the exam, records the same firing as the maiden test of Astra on Tejas, from LCA LSP-7.

Two parts of The Hindu's description, BVR and air-to-air, settle the option. Air-to-air: it is launched from an aircraft at an aerial target, not from the ground. Beyond visual range: it engages targets farther away than the pilot can see, so the aircraft's radar must find and track them.

The Hindu's report describes Astra as a BVR air-to-air missile to engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aerial targets. The answer is Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile.

The idea to remember: Astra is India's indigenous BVR air-to-air missile; Tejas test-fired it on 23 August 2023.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Beyond Visual Range Surface to Air Missile — A surface-to-air missile is launched from land or a ship against aerial threats. Astra was released from a Tejas in flight, at about 20,000 ft according to the Ministry's statement, so it is air-to-air.

  A surface-to-air example is the naval Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), which the Ministry's Year End Review 2023 (22 December 2023) describes as giving point and area defence to the Navy's P15A ships against aerial threats.

• (3)
  Within Visual Range Air to Air Missile — The launch platform is right, but the range class is not. A within visual range (close combat) air-to-air missile engages a target the pilot can see.

  Astra is classed beyond visual range: its engagement zone lies past the pilot's sight, and The Hindu's report of the test calls it a BVR air-to-air missile.

• (4)
  Within Visual Range Surface to Air Missile — This is wrong on both counts: Astra is fired from an aircraft, and it is built for targets beyond visual range.

  Surface-to-air weapons are launched from the ground or a ship. One short-range example is DRDO's Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS), which the Ministry's Year End Review 2023 (22 December 2023) calls a man-portable air defence system with an imaging infrared seeker.

Missiles are classed by where they are launched and what they hit: air-to-air (aircraft to aircraft), surface-to-air (ground or ship to aircraft or missile), air-to-surface, and so on.

Air-to-air missiles are further split by range. A within-visual-range missile is for close combat, where the pilot can see the target. A beyond-visual-range (BVR) missile engages targets past the pilot's sight, so the aircraft's radar detects, identifies and tracks the target.

Older BVR missiles generally used semi-active radar homing, guided by the launching aircraft's radar; modern ones use active radar homing, with a radar seeker in the missile.

Key facts

• On 23 August 2023 LCA Tejas fired the Astra BVR air-to-air missile off the Goa coast; all test objectives were met, per the Ministry of Defence.
• The missile was released at an altitude of about 20,000 ft and the aircraft was monitored by a chase Tejas twin-seater.
• Astra is designed to engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aerial targets.
• Astra was designed and developed by DRDO's DRDL, Research Centre Imarat and other laboratories.
• A BVR missile engages targets beyond the pilot's visual range, relying on radar to detect and track them.

Common traps

• Mixing launch platform and target: Astra is fired from an aircraft at aircraft, so it is air-to-air, not surface-to-air.
• Mixing range classes: close combat missiles are within visual range; Astra is beyond visual range.
• Reading 'Tejas fired a missile' as 'Tejas is the missile': Tejas is the Light Combat Aircraft, Astra the missile it carried.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the test of 23 August 2023, the Astra missile was fired off the coast of Goa from which aircraft?

  • (a)Su-30MKI
  • (b)LCA Tejas
  • (c)Mirage 2000
  • (d)Jaguar
  Answer(2) — The Hindu reported on 23 August 2023 that the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas had fired Astra off the coast of Goa that day. Options (1), (3) and (4) did not fire the missile in that test.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  A missile fired from a fighter aircraft to destroy an enemy aircraft that the pilot cannot see, using the aircraft's radar to find the target, is classed as

  • (a)within visual range air-to-air
  • (b)beyond visual range air-to-air
  • (c)surface-to-air
  • (d)air-to-surface
  Answer(2) — Aircraft to aircraft makes it air-to-air, and a target past the pilot's sight makes it beyond visual range. Option (1) requires a target in sight, option (3) a ground or ship launch, and option (4) a ground target.