LCA Navy 2nd Prototype Makes Debut Flight in India
The government controlled Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Saturday conducted the maiden test flight of the second prototype of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas naval variant here.
"The second LCA naval prototype (NP2) was flown for the first time for 35 minutes, giving a major fillip to the Tejas program. Efforts of our aircraft research and design center’s engineers on the complex landing gear design made the flight possible, as it is different from the air force version," HAL chairman T. Suvarna Raju said in a statement.
Indian Navy test pilot Captain Shivnath Dahiya flew the twin-seater fighter plane under telemetry control provided by National Flight Test Centre (NFTC) director Commander J.D. Raturi and its chief test pilot Commodore J.A. Maolankar from the HAL airport in Bangalore.
HAL claimed soon after the flight that the NP-2 has been free of all deficiencies that were observed on NP-1, a trainer variant. The NP-1 recently had demonstrated its capabilities from the Shore-Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa.
"NP-2 incorporates most avionic hardware components promised to the Indian Navy. During design and build NP-2 has been customized to incrementally accept modifications for carrier landings (from ship deck)," says an HAL spokesperson.
The event marks the growth of the indigenous LCA (Navy) program, aimed to achieve carrier compatibility technology demonstration, including arrested landing and ski-jump take-off, initially from the shore-based test facility in Goa.