As the laboured final stretch of India’s LCA Tejas trudges on, there’s a final milestone on the, well, horizon. A Tejas fighter with a fully integrated multi-mode radar and new quartz radome is all set to fire its first BVR missile off the coast of Goa — Livefist can confirm it will be a Rafael Systems Derby (mock-ups pictured above last year). As reported earlier by Livefist, the Derby has been signed on as a stopgap in the event that the indigenous Astra doesn’t enter the field of play in time. More details on this upcoming test soon.

The real wait, of course, is for the Tejas to begin carriage and firing tests of the in-development Astra, which has already been fired a few times from an IAF Su-30MKI.