The LCA Tejas Series Production-1 (SP1) was handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Indian Air Force Chief Air Marshal Arup Raha in Bengaluru on Saturday. Tejas is expected to be the
star attraction at the Aero India 2015 to be held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru from 18 to 22 Feb 2015
Now that it has completed its flight test program or Initial
Operational Clearance –II which signifies it’s airworthy in different flying
condition the aircraft is expected to enthralled crowds at with its
breath-taking aerobatics more impressive than what it displayed during
Aero-India 2013.
Tejas is designed to replace the IAF's ageing fleet of MiG-21 and MiG-23 aircraft. It is a single-seat, lightweight, high-agility, supersonic fighter aircraft jointly manufactured by a consortium of five organisations pooled HAL and the Aeronautical Development Agency
The aircraft is however, expected to achieve final operational
clearance (FOC) only by the year-end which is a further six-month delay from the
earlier time limit of June.
Informed sources say that the LCA Tejas's the IAF version, the
Naval version and the trainer version will either fly at the Aero-India 2015 or
may be displayed on the ground.
The LCA has completed over 3000 flying hours without any hitch
which makes it one of the most elaborate test programs of any aircraft
manufacturer in the world. Defence Research and Development Organisation
aeronautical research and development projects director-general K Tamilmani is
said to have told that the Aeronautical Development Agency is still awaiting
supply of the refuelling probe and the quartz nose cone to test the Tejas' radar
performance from Cobham.
Also ordered by the Indian Navy, the aircraft features eight
external hardpoints to carry stores, with three under each wing and a tailless
compound delta platform. It can also be armed with air-to-air, air-to-ground,
and anti-ship missiles, precision-guided munitions, rockets and bombs
HAL sources are quoted to have said that the
production of LCA Tejas will be 20 aircraft by 2017-2018, to make the first
squadron of the aircraft. By 2020, HAL hopes to supply 40 Mark I LCA aircraft to
the IAF, which is expected to ultimately field approximately 14 LCA
squadrons.
