The TEJAS MK-2 will have an Auxiliary Mission Computer (AC) to serve with the Digital Flight Control Computer (DFCC) and Mission Management and Display Computer (MMDC).
This three-tiered computing design improves redundancy, resilience, and mission flexibility while adhering to fourth-plus generation combat avionics regulations.
The AC allows for continuous flight operation in adverse weather, improves sensor integration, and serves as a developmental bridge to fifth-generation platforms like the AMCA.
This technology, designed to work alongside the Digital Flight Control Computer (DFCC) and Mission Management and Display Computer (MMDC), adds unprecedented levels of redundancy, reliability, and operational agility to the airframe.
The auxiliary computer provides a live backup for the primary flight and mission control systems. If either the DFCC or MMDC fails or is damaged in combat, the AC immediately takes over their crucial responsibilities, ensuring that the aircraft maintains control.
The architecture employs a gentle degradation paradigm, allowing the jet to operate with partial capability rather than experiencing total system failure, ensuring mission continuity and pilot survivability. The auxiliary computer acts as an active redundancy layer, providing real-time backup for DFCC and MMDC units via high-speed data bus linkages and fault-tolerant logic. It can take over operational management immediately upon failure detection in essential systems.
In addition, the AC continuously monitors the health of onboard systems, detecting anomalies and dynamically rerouting processing power to maintain flying control.
This self-healing function provides a significant improvement in battle survivability in electronic warfare-intensive conditions.
The installation of the AC improves team coordination among sensors, flight control, and weapons systems. It combines data from the Uttam AESA radar, Infrared Search and Track (IRST), and other onboard sensors to provide the pilot with a unified tactical view.
By incorporating this additional CPU, the TEJAS MK-2 gains the potential to handle more data-intensive missions. It is critical to sensor fusion, combining data from the UTTAM AESA radar, IRST sensors, and other subsystems to provide the pilot with a complete image of the operational theatre.
This improved situational awareness eliminates data silos and speeds up decision-making in quickly dynamic encounters. These features improve situational awareness, electronic survivability, and reduce pilot workload in crowded combat settings.
The AC also transforms weapon management by automating critical combat logic like radar-weapon synchronization and pre-emptive activation under danger scenarios.
This automation decreases pilot labor and improves combat efficiency, particularly on high-intensity missions. It also plays an important part in the Unified Electronic Warfare Suite (UEWS), prioritising and controlling countermeasures like jamming, decoys, and warning responses.
The auxiliary computer enables network-centric warfare operations by seamlessly integrating with software-defined radios (SDRs) and the Indian Air Force Network (AFNet).
By managing tactical data links, it guarantees secure, real-time contact with allied aircraft, ground stations, and command elements, thereby enhancing cooperative mission execution.
Furthermore, the AC’s processing support enables a significant reduction in computational load on primary systems. This frees up resources for other mission operations, such as enhanced threat computation, simultaneous weapon deployment, and digital mapping under high electronic load.
The TEJAS MK-2’s avionics suite, which is supported by this auxiliary computer system, represents a significant step forward in India’s self-sufficient defense technological foundation. The system, which was developed domestically, minimizes reliance on foreign avionics hardware and software, so strengthening national security through technological sovereignty
Strategically, this architecture serves as the cornerstone for the forthcoming Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The modular computing principles, redundancy logic, and sensor fusion algorithms developed under the MK-2 program will have a direct impact on AMCA’s mission systems, providing scalability and decreasing development cost cycles.
By incorporating this high level of computational intelligence and fault tolerance, the TEJAS MK-2 solidifies its status as a real multi-role fighter of the future, improving the Indian Air Force’s operational readiness and survivability in complex air combat scenarios.
