The last and the eighth aircraft in the Limited Series Production program of India's LCA-Tejas (LSP-08) fighter took off on its maiden f...
The performance of the aircraft was flawless, said Dr. R. K.Tyagi, Chairman, HAL.
The aircraft was flown covering a flight envelope at supersonic speeds and at an angle of attack of 20 degrees which is the current maximum limit cleared by design. With this, the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) for the aircraft can be expected soon. Air Cmde K.A. Muthana, VSM, Program Director (Flight Test) piloted the aircraft on its maiden flight.
The aircraft with a build standard akin to the Initial Operation Clearance standard underwent series of rigorous checks by the certifying and inspecting agencies during the last fortnight with a few taxi checks to assess the aircraft performance. The flight clearance by the certifying agencies was accorded on Sunday for the aircraft after ensuring that all the aircraft systems were functioning satisfactorily on ground.
Till now aircraft normally undergo high speed taxi trials prior to the first flight. However, with the confidence gained by the flight crew and the certifying agencies during the build and ground checks a decision was taken to proceed with first flight without going through a separate high speed taxi trial.
So far Tejas has completed 2115 test flights successfully including this.
Aircraft systems related to fuel, environment condition, electrical and avionics which had undergone series of modifications based on feedback from earlier aircraft functioned well.
The first 40 Tejas Mark I aircrafts contracted by Indian Air Force are being built with the General Electric F-404IN engine, while the subsequent Tejas Mark II would have the more powerful GE F-414 engine.
Out of the 40 aircrafts, 20 will be under the IOC standards, with the rest under Final Operational Clearance (FOC)standards.
IAF plans to induct six LCA squadrons over the next 10 years.The first two squadrons, comprising 40 aircraft, will have first-generation Mk.1 fighters. The additional four squadrons would be more-powerful Tejas Mk. 2s.
The Tejas, is an indigenous fighter aircraft jointly developed by Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. It is the smallest lightweight, multi-role, single-engine tactical fighter aircraft in the world and is being developed in single-seat fighter and twin seat trainer variants for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
Tejus would replace the ageing Soviet-era MiG-21s, with IAF which had earned the sobriquet 'flying coffins' following numerous air crashes involving them.
