The indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ will be inducted into the Indian Air Force this year, the DRDO chief, Dr V.K. Saraswat, has said.
Tejas has completed almost 1,855 flying hours (flight tests), and all problems it encountered during the initial operational clearance have been solved. It is completely ready to enter into the final operational clearance phase. The production has also taken off at HAL.
The LCA will be finally inducted into the Indian Air Force this year.
A naval version of the LCA was recently successfully tested and the first flight trial of the LCA Navy achieved capability, particularly on take-off and landing, from an aircraft carrier. The Naval variant will certainly be a force multiplier for the Indian Navy.
The LCA has been conceived and designed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured at Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
Dr Saraswat said April 2012 will go down in the history as a historic month as it saw the successful launches of Agni-V, RISAT-I (radar imaging satellite) and the first flight trial of LCA Navy.
India is now at a stage with advance sophisticated military technology and has a mix of potent weapon systems in it’s inventory.