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LCA test flown successfully

BANGALORE (AFP) - India on Thursday successfully test flew its long-delayed frontline Light Combat Aircraft.

The multi-role combat aircraft -- in development since 1983 -- was given its maiden test flight from an airfield connected to the Bangalore-based aerospace company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

The LCA took off at 10:19 am and "was in the air for 17 minutes" an HAL official at the airport said.

Defence Minister George Fernandes watched the test flight from the ground, while Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis observed from a Mirage fighter which shadowed the LCA.

The fighter can carry seven weapon stations and has a provision for in-flight refuelling, as well as short take-off and landing capability.

Analysts say the Indian Air Force is likely to test four prototypes in order to speed up the certification process, which requires a certain number of test-flying hours to be notched up.

However, the LCA is not likely to begin serial production before 2015.

Some observers say the entire project, which has already cost somewhere in the region of $ 543 million, has proved a bottomless pit in terms of expenditure, with successive governments lacking the political courage to scrap it.

The military is hoping that an Indo-Russian deal signed last week for the licensed production of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets will give the LCA project a boost.

The $ 3 billion deal envisages the production of some 140 Su-30MKI fighters over the next 17 years by HAL in Bangalore.

"The hope is that the Sukhoi technology can be incorporated in the LCA design," said Rahul Bedi of Jane's Defence Weekly.

EARLIER REPORT
India to test-fly LCA in 'couple of days': AFP

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