LCA "Tejas" to be handed over to IAF for Initial Operational Clearance

India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, "Tejas", will at last be handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) here tomorrow for Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) so that the IAF pilots could get a feel of the fighter plane before it is formally inducted for action.
It will be a momentous day for those in the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) tomorrow when Defence Minister A K Antony hands over the IOC Certificate to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal P V Naik signalling a new phase for Tejas before it will be inducted as a squadron, which is likely to be based at Sulur, near Coimbatore in Chennai.

The LCA project was sanctioned by the Government for an initial cost of Rs 3301.78 crore. However, the cost escalation and time delays had pushed the overall cost of the project to around Rs 5778 crore.

IAF has already placed orders with the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 40 of these fighter aircraft, which is seen as a replacement of the ageing MIG 21s.

The fly-by-wire, multi-role supersonic aircraft, which has been under development for more than two decades, had been weaponised and undergone a series of tests at a new range at Chitradurga in Karnataka.

In the run-up to the clearance, Tejas has completed all test points for low level flights, off the coast of Goa. It has also conducted operations in the extreme climate of Leh and operated from an IAF air base in the South Western Air Command area.

Initially Tejas would be flown by IAF pilots out of the HAL Airport here so that HAl could rectify any teething problems.

Launched in 1983, the LCA programme over the years overcome several trials and tribulations and crossed significant milestones, besides widening the country's technological capabilities.

IAF had initially sought 39 squadrons. However, the extended delay, basically due to development of indigenous Kaveri engine besides various other technical snags, had forced IAF to reduce the squadrons to around 33.

The first prototype Tejas took off on January 2001 and the IOC is being granted exactly a decade later.

The indigenous Kaveri engine has been under development since 1986 at the Bangalore-based Gas Turbine and Research Establishment (GTRE).

According to estimates the Kaveri engine would be installed on the LCA only by 2012 and that, too, at a revised cost of Rs 2,839 crore, almost eight times the projected development cost of Rs 382 crore in 1989.