Naval prototype of LCA Tejas to debut this month
03 Dec 2011
Bangalore: India's first indigenously developed, carrier-borne, naval fighter aircraft, the LCA Tejas (Navy), will conduct its maiden flight sometime at the end of the month. The Tejas Navy is a derivative of the LCA Tejas developed for the Indian Air Force.
The LCA Tejas will be part of the air complement of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), currently under construction at the Kochi shipyard.
"LCA (navy) will be flown in the month of December. I think by the end of this month, it should fly", Dr VK Saraswat, scientific adviser to defence minister and director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.
DRDO officials said the aircraft is currently being tweaked, based on feedback and observations made as part of the EGR (Engine Ground Run) of LCA Navy Prototype 1 (NP1).
This will be followed by a series of final integration checks and taxi trials before the first flight.
They said the aircraft will be operating with a wide variety of operational weapons and equipment like the beyond visual range missiles, anti-ship missiles, conventional bombs and drop tanks.
