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LCA : Second prototype to fly soon |
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A second prototype of India’s indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is expected to take to the skies soon. The new phase of tests with the second prototype will focus on supersonic flight.
After being in development for more than 15 years, the first prototype of the LCA flew for the first time in January last year. It has since completed a series of tests.
The LCA is claimed to be the world’s smallest lightweight fighter-bomber and is meant to replace the Indian Air Force’s ageing MiG-21 fighters. The normal time for a fighter to gain operational air-worthiness is seven years from the time the first prototype flies.
Announcing plans for further tests, the defence scientist heading the LCA programme said a review board had cleared the second prototype, known as technology demonstrator-2, or TD-2, for trials.
The third prototype too is ready and expected to fly sometime in the third quarter of this year. Significantly, the naval variant of the aircraft has been designed and further work on the project is awaiting clearance from defence authorities. “The Flight Clearance Review Board has cleared the second technology demonstrator for flying and we should be able to fly it in the next week or 10 days,” Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Director Kota Harinarayana said in Bangalore.
Speeds for high-speed taxiing trials by TD-2 on the ground had been increased from 200 kmph to 250 kmph. “We need some time for the new pilot to get used to flying the TD-2,” he said. The two pilots who flew TD-1, or the first LCA prototype, had gone back to their parent formations in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Harinarayana said the LCA’s naval variant would have some “unique aerodynamic features.” “Like the LCA, it will be the only aircraft of its kind in the world in terms of size and power. We have a design where a small carrier of 20,000 tonnes would be adequate for a conventional landing and take off,” he said. The tail-less, delta winged LCA, resembling the Swedish JAS Gripen fighter jet, will be able to carry the Astra medium range air-to-air missiles currently being developed by the Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory.
Its weapons include close combat missiles and a 23mm cannon, besides equipment that will allow it to counter electronic warfare and jamming.
The ADA will produce seven LCA prototypes for the IAF and two for the Navy. The Government has already cleared limited series production of the LCA and production is expected start by 2006. “Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has already established a planning team for this purpose,” Harinarayana said.
The Rs.20 billion LCA project has faced several ups and downs since its inception, including crippling U.S. sanctions in the wake of India’s 1998 nuclear tests.
The TD-1 completed 12 test flights before work on the TD-2 last year. The IAF has projected a requirement for 220 LCAs, including 20 trainers, while the Navy needs another 30 jets, Harinarayana said.
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