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COUNTDOWN BEGINS:
JUST 26 DAYS MORE |
India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) moved one step closer to its much-awaited initial operational clearance (IOC) when a limited series production (LSP-4) platform fired a Russian-made R-73 air-to-air close combat missile at INS Hansa in Goa on Nov. 30. Tejas Program Director P.S. Subramaniam tells Tarmak007 that LSP-4 flew at 12 km. (7.5 mi.) altitude and reached Mach 0.7. “The missile [separated] from the platform as per the textbook prescription and there was no plume effect on the engine,” he says. “This is the first time a Tejas platform flew with a missile and later fired in the IOC-standard avionics system. The pilots also tested Tejas on a side-slip mode.”This could be the last phase of sea trials in Goa, ahead of IOC. The team is expected to perform drop tank separations in the next few days. The Indian Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) says the one of the main objectives of the current phase of flight trials is clearing the firing envelope of the missile from the Tejas.“The very fact that the missile was integrated and tested on an Indian platform without the participation of the OEM [Russia], shows the strength of India in handling such complex technologies. It is significant for all of us,” Subramaniam says.Team Tejas is fast approaching the December deadline to finish formalities ahead of attaining the program’s Release to Service standards.Got this amazing quote on Tejas, via email from SAM, a blog member: "Those who flew her never criticized her; those who criticized her never flew her."
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