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Locally produced LCA-Mk1 fighter jet to make historic flight with 2 top military leaders onboard
Locally produced LCA-Mk1 Fighter Jet will make historic flight with Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi onboard. The flight precedes Aero India 2025 and critical trials for the advanced Mk-1A variant.
Locally produced fighter jet LCA-Mk1 will make a landmark flight on Sunday with Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and army chief General Upendra Dwivedi onboard, Hindustan Times reported citing official sources. The two-seater trainer version of the Tejas light combat aircraft will take off from the Yelahanka airbase in Bengaluru.
According to officials, it will be the first time that two service chiefs will fly in the single-engine fighter plane. On the opening day of Aero India 2025, that is Monday, Chief Marshal AP Singh will fly in a formation of three LCA Mk. Asia’s biggest airshow will witness flight of locally produced fighter jet LCA Mk-1s that has already been inducted in the air force.
This comes ahead of critical trials on the LCA Mk-1A (an advanced variant of the Mk-1 aircraft) by the state-run plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). These trials will involve testing of the indigenous Astra beyond-visual-range missile, the aircraft’s locally made electronic warfare suite and the Israeli Elta radar. Following completion of the necessary certification requirements., HAL targets March 31 deadline to deliver the first fighter jet to the IAF.
The locally produced fighter jet will also participate in the aerial display during the five-day airshow. In February 2021, the air force ordered 83 Mk-1A fighters for ₹48,000 crore and plans to buy an additional 97 fighter jet Mk-1As at a cost of around ₹67,000 crore.
To expedite the delivery of the F404 engines for the Mk-1A aircraft, HAL is in talks with US firm GE Aerospace. Although GE has not committed to a delivery schedule for the 99 engines on order but has indicated that the production issues have been resolved and the supply of the first units could commence soon.
Delay in delivery of Mk-1A aircraft
As per the report, first few LCA Mk-1As are expected to be delivered to the IAF with reserve F404 engines that will be replaced with new ones as and when GE begins supplying them.
Due to several reasons, the delivery of the first Mk-1A aircraft was delayed, which was to be delivered to the IAF by March 31, 2024. The delays arose because of delays in some key certifications and GE’s inability to supply the engines on time.
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Business NewsNewsLocally produced LCA-Mk1 fighter jet to make historic flight with 2 top military leaders onboard
First Published:9 Feb 2025, 06:35 AM IST
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