| Posted on: April 28, 2012 |
India's home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas programme for its navy achieved a major milestone Friday when its first prototype, NP-1, took to the skies for the first time ever in Bangalore.
The naval version of the LCA's first flight is a critical step in the programme that is already late by five years when it comes to its original schedule for production and induction into the navy.
The planes will ultimately be the fighters on board the Indian Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), along with the Russian MiG-29Ks. The first of the IAC is presently under construction at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi on the coast of the southern Indian state of Kerala.
The LCA Navy is still three years away from final induction into the aviation inventory of the Indian Navy.
"With the successful maiden flight of the LCA's naval version, India has joined another elite club of countries capable of design, development, manufacture and testing of fourth generation carrier-borne fly-by-wire ski jump take off but arrested recovery (Stobar) aircraft," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief V.K. Saraswat said.
The test sortie of the LCA naval prototype (NP-1) was conducted for about 20 minutes by Air Commodore TA Maolankar with Wing Commander Maltesh Prabhu as co-pilot of the national flight test centre.
"The flight performance was outstanding. The naval version is the first attempt to provide a complete marine force multiplier that will give unique battle punch to the naval aviation arm of the 21st century to fulfill national dream of blue waters," an elated Saraswat said.
Public sector company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which is building two prototypes, will have a new naval production line "so that the Navy gets as much importance as the Air Force” in receiving its LCAs, Indian Navy's deputy chief Vice Admiral Satish Soni said at a news conference after the first flight.
Soni set DRDO a deadline of 2014 to ready the naval version for initial operational clearance.
The flight over Bangalore tested some of the improvisations made for the ship-based plane from the Indian Air Force (IAF) LCA Tejas.
The LCA is developed by Aeronautical Development Agency. The naval LCA programme was sanctioned Rs.1900 crore ($420 million) in 2003 and the first prototype was unveiled in 2010.
Nearly 100 industries are contributing systems and materials to the programme.
"LCA Navy is the first attempt in the country to provide a complete marine force multiplier that will give unique battle punch to the naval aviation arm and fulfill the dream of a blue water navy,' a DRDO statement said.
IAF chief NAK Browne and HAL chairman RK Tyagi were among those who witnessed the first flight of the naval LCA.
Saraswat said the conversions were challenging and the new technologies took time.
Though the Indian naval version is the second Stobar in the world after the Russian deck-based aircraft, it will be the only carrier borne fighter in the light category.
"We have flown on the designated flight path up to 30 nautical miles from the base touching a top speed of 450 km from 50 km at take-off and touched an altitude of about 10,000 feet above mean sea level. We also did close formation and slowed down to land smoothly," Maolankar said after the test flight.
With the indigenously built Kaveri aeroengine still on the test bed, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has been forced to use the GE-F-404IN20 engine of the US-based General Electric (GE) on the Naval LCA.
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