LCA limited series production (LSP-1) model goes supersonic on first flight

Bangalore: The first Limited Series Production (LSP-1) aircraft of Tejas, the indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft, made a successful maiden flight on Wednesday at the HAL airport in Bangalore. The flight lasted 47 minutes, and all systems of the aircraft functioned "perfectly well," the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said through a release.

LSP-1 marks the beginning of series production of Tejas for induction into the Indian Air Force.

Flown by Group Captain AP Singh, the aircraft attained supersonic speed at 1.1 Mach, DRDO said in its release. It also said that this is the first time in the country that any aircraft has gone supersonic on its very first flight.

As is customary for the first flight of a prototype, another Tejas (TD-2) chased the LSP-1. Wg Cdr N Tiwari of the NFTC piloted the TD-2 aircraft.

Wg Cdr M Prabhu was the test director at the telemetry control station for the test flight.