No air-to-air refuelling for LCA squadron

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Bengaluru, May 17

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the DRDO lab handling the development of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, today said it was preparing two prototypes of the indigenously designed fighter jet for the next phase of the programme.

While one prototype is being readied for equipping the jet with the air-to-air refuelling capability, the other is being prepared for installation of a gun in the LCA.

“The gun trial is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year. The air-to-air refuelling tests are slated to begin from December,” said ADA chief Commodore CD Balaji.

Balaji spoke to The Tribune after IAF Chief Arup Raha flew a trainer LCA-Tajas here today. “It is my first sortie in Tejas, it is a good aircraft for induction into IAF operations,” a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL, the contractor for manufacturing the jet) press release quoted Raha as having said.

Raha, who sat in the rear seat of the two-seater trainer variant LCA with Group Captain M Rangachari in the front, flew the plane for about 30 minutes after taking off from the HAL airport in the afternoon.

“It is a moral boosting gesture from the IAF Chief and shows the faith our customer has in our abilities,” said T Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL.

Raha, himself a decorated fighter pilot, is the first IAF Chief to check out an LCA trainer personally. The combat-variant LCAs are single-seater aircraft meant for solo flying.

“The Air Chief Marshal carried out manoeuvres checking out the entire flying envelope of the aircraft. He carried out simulated air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks. He also assessed the advanced modes of the radar and helmet-mounted display sight (HMDS),” HAL said.

The series production of the LCA-Tejas has already commenced at the HAL facility at Bengaluru and the first squadron of the LCA is expected to be formed by July 2016.

However, the first squadron of LCAs (20 aircraft) will not have the air-to-air refuelling facility, a must for all modern aircraft, or the gun meant for use in a dog-fight scenario. The supersonic fighter, powered by an American GE engine, though, will be armed with other weapons tried and tested in various firing ranges in the country.

The IAF requires six LCA squadrons to replace its aging fleet of Soviet era MiG 21 and MiG 27 jets.