In a new milestone, the ‘Tejas’ Light Combat Aircraft is now flying test runs from a high-altitude area like Leh as part of its development programme.

 

According to the statement given by a DRDO official The LCA PV-3 (protoype vehicle) landed at Leh, situated at a height of 10,600 feet, on December 13. The prevailing temperature there ranges from plus 5 to minus 20 degrees.

 

He also added that the objective of the current phase of flight trials is to expose the onboard systems to extreme low temperatures while making an assessment of the aircraft's performance in the rarified atmospheric conditions.

 

After a meandering saga of over 25 years, the long-delayed indigenous `Tejas' fighter jet has finally gained some momentum now, with defense minister A K Antony promising IAF will get the first LCA by 2011.

 

As of now, the IAF has placed an order for only one LCA squadron of 20 jets but the eventual aim is to have at least seven such squadrons. The project was started in 1983 with a projected cost of Rs 560 crore to replace the ageing MiG-21s in the IAF combat fleet.

 

However with delay of 25 years the LCA project costs have already mounted to Rs 5,489 crore. Till now, the two LCA technology demonstrators and three prototype vehicles have clocked over 933 flights, totaling around 520 hours.