Naval LCA engine test successful

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials, who are working closely with the project said: “Dream of the country’s first indigenous effort to build a carrier borne Naval Fighter aircraft got a fillip with the crossing of another significant milestone of the first EGR.”

The test, which was conducted at about 6.30 pm in the City, had the primary objective of checking aircraft to engine integration and activation of the various systems like flight control, hydraulics, fuel, electrical, avionics, etc, which was successfully achieved.

The aircraft will now go through a phase of refinements based on feedback identified during the course of the build up and also observed during the engine ground run, followed by a series of final integration checks and taxi trials before its maiden flight, scheduled for the coming weeks.

The project is being steered by a team comprising members of the Indian Navy, Indian Air Dorce, DRDO, HAL, the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification, the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

While the naval version is taking its baby steps towards testing and trial before getting closer to the induction, India’s pride, LCA Tejas, is undergoing weapons’ trials, including firing air-to-air missiles to test its capability to bring down enemy planes.

Sources, stating that this is a key step towards attaining final operational clearance (FOC) from the IAF, said the first phase of trials will see firing of bombs and missiles.

“...And tests will also see the indigenously developed fighter fire laser-guided bombs,” sources said, adding that there will be a series of tests in varying conditions. There will also be intensive tests conducted in Leh and other challenging regions.

Tejas, which had got the initial operational clearance (IOC) in January, is scheduled for the FOC by the end of 2012, and is expected to boost the IAF’s capabilities as it will replace the ageing MiG series of aircraft from Russia.

However, there are more tests that have to be completed before the FOC, sources said. It is important to note that former Air Chief Marshal P V Naik had, after handing over the IOC certificate, said that the IAF is not completely satisfied with Tejas and that it needed several improvements.