Tejas New Delhi: India's indigenous light combat aircraft, Tejas was handed over to the Indian Air Force on Monday for what is called an initial operational clearance.This would allow IAF pilots to get a feel of the fighter plane before it is formally inducted for action. Defence Minister AK Antony handed over the IOC Certificate to Air Chief PV Naik signaling a new phase for Tejas before it will be inducted as a squadron.The Light Combat Aircraft project was sanctioned for an initial cost of Rs 3301 crore. However there have been several delays and cost escalation that has pushed the overall cost of the project to around Rs 5778 crore.
The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA ) which is, the supersonic fourth generation fighter will replace the aged russian made Mig-21. The project cost is Rs.5,778 crore. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) will manufacture the first 20 Tejas aircraft in two batches of 10 planes each. HAL will continue to upgrade the indigenous fighter as the Indian Air Force plans to induct close to 200 LCAs and 20 twin seater trainer versions in the long run.The certificate was given by the Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness (RCMA) of the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (Cemilac), a lab of the defence research organisation.The IAF is reported to have a requirement for 200 single-seat and 20 two-seat conversion trainers, while the Indian Navy may order up to 40 single-seaters to replace its Sea Harrier FRS.51 and Harrier T.60. During its sea level flight trials off Goa, Tejas notched a speed of over 1,350 km per hour, thus becoming the second supersonic fighter manufactured indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited after the HAL Marut
The F404-GE-IN20 engine from the US-based General Electric powers the fighter, as the indigenously developed Kaveri engine is still undergoing advance trials.ADA director PS Subramanyam said that they are developing a new variant of the present LCA by 2014-15 and the fighter jet will be fully indigenous in five years timeThe HAL is manufacturing eight aircraft for clearance flights and will take up the IAF’s initial order to deliver 20 jets to form the first Tejas squadron, which will be based at the Sulur air base near Coimbatore.The Air Force has also placed an additional order of 20 more Tejas for the second squadron in 2010. It will be raised at Kayathir near Tuticorin. The IAF may finally have around 200 LCAs (10 squadrons) in its fleet. By Praful Kumar Singh .
