Tejas Light Combat Aircraft LSP-4

 As two approaching dots rapidly enlarged into the menacing delta-wing shapes of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, an animated murmur arose. Test pilot, Wing Commander Suneet Krishna was bringing in a brand new Tejas fighter from its inaugural test flight.In those 40 minutes, both fighters had climbed to 36,000 feet; broken the sound barrier; turned and twisted sharply; and checked several parameters as part of the Tejas flight test programme.LSP-3, which first flew on 23rd April, was the first Tejas with a multi-mode radar (MMR); and with electronic systems to differentiate friendly from hostile aircraft. LSP-4 has all that and also flare and chaff dispensers to confuse enemy radars and missiles: a Counter Measure Dispensing System.LSP-4 will be only the eighth Tejas in the flight test programme, which has done 1,300 sorties, amounting to more than 700 hours of flying.“I am pushing for LSP-5 to fly by June-end,” says D Balasunder, the managing director of HAL’s Bangalore Complex. The ADA plans to build LSP-6 and LSP-7 quickly and then hand those two Tejas fighters to the IAF.

Read More

Posted in: India,LCA