The battle-ready version of the country's fighter plane, Tejas, may not emerge before late 2013 or 2014 going by its present pace.
On Friday evening, defence scientists in Bangalore flew yet another improved version of the aircraft to test many indigenously-developed instruments. They reported its 18-minute performance as ‘satisfactory'.
Evidently, much work remains before the fighter matches the Indian Air Force's requirement.
Tejas, when fully flight-ready, is tipped to be the world's lightest. Its story has been snagged by delays, including the US sanctions. An official closely associated with Tejas's progress said LSP-8, the next tweaked version, would not be ready until later this year.
LSP-8 would be the version presented for final certification of CEMILAC, the approving body for fighter aircraft, the official told Business Line . The FOC (final operational or flight clearance) and the green flag to produce them could come in late 2013 or beyond.
Development saga
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has been making all the early pieces of the light combat aircraft (LCA). The defence PSU has an order for the first 40 planes from the IAF. Before that, Tejas must meet all the standards that make it safe and reliable in a war.
In January 2011, Tejas got the initial operational clearance (IOC) with some concessions on milestones. It had not yet met a few yardsticks for the IOC, which allows those outside the ‘lab' — IAF pilots in this case — to try out the plane.
The Defence Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, has described it as the ‘semi-final' stage in its 25-year, Rs 12,500-crore development saga.
In the coming years, the IAF is expected to need over 200 Tejas fighters to replace the MiGs. The Navy is tipped to seek 40 customised variants and has already funded the early variants. The IAF has placed an order with HAL to deliver two batches of 20 aircraft each. One order for Rs 4,000 crore is for Mark I. The other is for a higher-powered Mark II fitted with GE-F404 engines
HAL has said it can bring out ten LCAs a year — or the full complement of 40 around 2018.
The DRDO's nodal body, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), is developing the LCA for the IAF.
DRDO said Friday's flight, piloted by Group Captain K. K. Venugopal, tested the multi-mode radar, the helmet mounted display system, the auto-pilot and the instrument landing system.
“This test flight is significant for the programme, as LSP-7 build standard is close to the IOC standard. Accordingly LSP-7 aircraft, along with LSP-8, will be offered to the IAF for user evaluation trials,” DRDO said in a release.
A production test schedule was used for the first time in an early version.
“This is also the first time the maiden flight of a prototype was not accompanied by the customary ‘chase' (companion) aircraft.” It indicated the level of confidence in the plane, DRDO claimed.