New Delhi:
In a major boost to India’s defence preparedness, homemade Light Combat Aircraft Tejas successfully performed ‘arrested landing’ on Friday in Goa. The testing is set to expedite the delayed induction of Tejas in the Navy. The ability of an aircraft to come to a halt in a very short distance is required for operations on board an aircraft carrier, news agency ANI reported.
As Tejas performs the "arrested landing", India enters an elite list of nations like US, Russia, the UK, France and China which have achieved this feat.
Recently, the Indian Air Force and state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited rectified the pricing issue of 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A. The breakthrough in the pricing issue of Tejas was announced by Apurva Chandra, Director General (Acquisition) in the Defence Ministry on Thursday. He said that the ministry had also cleared the Procurement of additional Akash surface-to-air missiles (SAM) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), costing Rs. 5500 crore.
The Indian Navy currently operates Russian Mig-29K fighter jets. However, the Naval variant of LCA made its maiden flight in April 2012.
Moreover, the indigenously designed Light Utility Helicopter successfully completed the high altitude capability in hot and high weather conditions in Himalayas, HAL announced on Thursday. Trials were carried out by the test pilots from HAL, Indian Air Force and Army from Aug 24 to Sept 2.
