Light combat aircraft

An Aero L-159 Alca, a type of light combat aircraft

A Light combat aircraft is a light multirole military aircraft most coming from advanced trainers that have been modified or designed for engaging in light combat missions, either in light strike or attack missions, reconnaissance or interdiction roles while some keeping its trainer role.^[1][2] They are also slower than their bigger counterparts capable only of subsonic speed though some are capable of reaching mach 1+.^[3] Although equipped with either guns or short range air-to-air missiles^[4] it is usually for self-defense purpose or anti-helicopter missions not for air defense as lightweight fighters do, though some are capable of air combat or point air defense missions due to integrated or have variants capable of carrying powerful multi-mode radar systems,^[5][6][7] most LCAs don't have such due to their small limited design or are less powerful. However they can still be used to patrol the skies and implement border patrol or air policing.^[8][9][10] These aircraft are usually smaller and more lightly armed than the bigger multirole or strike aircraft such as the American F-18, F-15E Strike Eagle or Russian Mig-29. Most LCAs are armed with either bombs, rockets or gun pods used for COIN or CAS missions. Some aircraft have been developed to integrate more advanced armaments such as smart bombs and air to ground missiles, ECM pods(Electronic Countermeasure) and electronic targeting systems for better mission capability.^{[11][12][13][14]}

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Country	Manufacturer	Aircraft	Introduced	Variants	Development	Photo
Czech Republic	Aero Vodochody	L-159 ALCA	2000	L-159T1,T2,A/B	Designed as a multirole light combat aircraft derived from the L-59
Germany  France	Dornier of Germany and Dassault-Breguet of France	Alpha jet MS2, ATS	1973	Jet A/B,2	MS and ATS variant modified and upgraded
Italy	Alenia Aermacchi	M-346FA/FT	2004	M-346 trainer	Improved and modified M346FA/FT for multirole fighter and attack missions
		MB-339C	1979	A/B	C variant modified and upgraded
South Korea	Korea Aerospace Industries	TA-50	2005	T-50/FA-50	2nd variant, evolution from the T-50 AJT, modified and upgraded
United Kingdom	BAE Systems MAS Division	BAE Hawk 200	1976	Hawk 100	Developed and re-designed from Hawk trainer, upgraded weapons and sensors for air-to-air, air-to-ground and maritime roles
Yugoslavia	Aeronautical Technical Institute	G-4MD Super Galeb	1983	G-4/S	4M variant modified and upgraded
Pakistan	Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC)	JF-17 Thunder	12 March 2007	Block-I,Block-II,Block-III & JF-17B	Block-1& Block-II to be developed & Block-III is underdevelopment
India	Hindustan Aeronautics Limited	HAL Tejas	2015	Navy variant	Mark-1 to be developed into Mark-1A and Mark-2

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Attack aircraft.

External links