In a big move, the Indian Air Force has reportedly decided to deploy the Israeli X-Guard on the Tejas Mk2 fighter jet to enhance lethality while protecting the aircraft from enemy radars. Notably, the same was deployed on Rafale fighter jets during Operation Sindoor and it successfully helped India evade Pakistani radars and air defence systems. While Pakistan shot down a decoy, it believed that it killed a Rafale. This way, India got away with its plan and bombarded terror sites.
What is an X-Guard?
X-guard is popularly called ‘Latkan Baba’ in the Indian military fraternity for its deployment style and work. Israeli X-Guard is an AI-enabled, fibre-optic towed decoy that spoofs enemy radars & missiles, rather than just passively jamming them. According to the Israeli defence firm Rafael, the cutting-edge, lightweight, reusable towed decoy is integrated with the fighter aircraft’s EW suite to provide high-value active protection that defeats the most sophisticated radars, dramatically increasing aircraft survivability of the aircraft.
“The high ERP solid state antenna array defeats advanced tracking radars, including Monopulse and Lobe-On-Receive-Only (LORO) radar types, and counters radar–guided air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. Deployed either when the aircraft approaches a threatened area or upon detection of an imminent threat, it is retractable in flight using an advanced reel-out/reel-in mechanism, and upon mission completion, is stowed inside the pod on the aircraft. X-GUARD maintains both electrical and fibre-optic continuity throughout the flight,” reads the description on Rafael’s website.
Tejas Mk 2 Deployability
India’s next-generation indigenous fighter aircraft, the Tejas MkII, is set to achieve a significant boost in survivability by becoming the first domestically built jet to feature the X-GUARD towed decoy system. This development elevates the Tejas MkII into the same defensive category as advanced Western frontline fighters and highlights the Indian Air Force’s growing emphasis on electronic warfare and aircraft self-protection as core elements of future air combat operations, rather than secondary capabilities, said reports.
The system enhances the aircraft’s ability to operate within heavily defended airspace, significantly improving mission survivability across roles such as air dominance, deep-strike operations, and suppression of enemy air defences. When paired with the jet’s modern radar, sensors, and weapon systems, the towed decoy shifts the Tejas MkII from being merely a capable fighter to a far more robust and survivable combat platform.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
