Permission for the same has been sought from the government and the response is awaited, said Air Commodore M Matheswaran, Commandant of ASTE.
Briefing newspersons in connection with an international flight test seminar to be held from February 14-15, Matheswaran said, “The present intake is 16 candiates for a course and this would go up to 18 when foreigners are allowed to be trained here.
The total intake is also slated to cross 30 in the coming years.” Only one foreigner, an Iraqi pilot, has undergone training here nearly three decades ago.
The indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) Tejas, was on its way to get “Initial Operational Clearance” by 2010, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Director P S Subramanyam told presspersons at the same function.
LCA, he said, was undergoing the last leg of its flight tests at ASTE and almost 80 per cent of it was completed.
M M Pallam Raju, Minister of State for Defence, Air Chief Marshal FH Major, Chief of the Air staff, M Natarajan, scientific advisor to Defence Minister will take part in the inauguration programme.
