At a glance: Tejas - indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) of India

News Desk: Tejas is India's first indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). It is a lightweight multi-role jet fighter developed by India. It is a tailless, compound delta wing design powered by a single engine.It came from the LCA programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's aging MiG-21 fighters. The all weather combat aircraft has been extensively tested in ‘tough' flying conditions since its maiden test flight in 2001. The principal partner of LCA is Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and its divisions located in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Nasik, and Korwa. Lets have a look on some intersting facts about aircraft which is soon going to be the frontline flying machine of the Indian Air Force.Tejas can fly at a speed of more than 1,350 km per hour and can be compared to some of the world's best fighter aircraft -- the Mirage 2000, F-16 and Gripen fighter jets.It is expected to cost about Rs.200 crore per aircraft initially, with the cost coming down as production increases. The LCA will be called Tejas Mark I. It will be called Tejas Mark II after final operational clearance (FOC) slated for end of 2014.The fighter aircraft has undergone improvements in terms of its angle of attack and weapons delivery and has been tested for operation in different weather conditions. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited plans to initially produce eight LCAs every year and then scale up production to 16. Tejas can fly 1,700 km non-stop and has "glass cockpit display system". The aircraft has been designed into various combat variants like the Trainer variant and Naval variants of Tejas are being developed for land and carrier borne operations.Powered by GE-F404 Engine, Tejas has tailless compound delta configuration. Various levels of trials were under taken to see that these indigenously developed aircraft can be flown in all whether conditions. DRDO and HAL monitored all the trials of LCA Tejas along with the top officials from the Indian Air Force.The sea level trials were completed at Arrakonam & Goa which were necessary since it is being thought to be inducted in Indian Navy as well . Hot weather trials were conducted, in two phases at Nagpur which was pretty much successful. The next challenge was to see whether the new engine in the aircraft could survive the extreme cold conditions or not and for this the mountainous terrain of Leh in Jammu and Kash mir were selected . Tejas passed out the trials with the flying colours as the test were pretty much successful that were conducted in Leh .DRDO is developing four versions of the LCA; namely LCA for Air Force, LCA trainer for Air Force, LCA for Navy and LCA Navy Trainer.DRDO has also developed a special facility in Goa, that mimics the conditions for a Tejas for Navy landing, take-off and manoeuvre from an aircraft carrier.Over the years, DRDO has tested Tejas with different kinds of weaponry. From R-73 air-to-air missile to bomb dropping (including laser guided bombs), various weapons have been successfully test fired from the aircraft. DRDO is now working on making advanced medium combat aircraft with twin engines.The production version of Mark 2 is planned in June 2016. Indian Air Force has projected a requirement of 83 Tejas Mark 2 aircraft. Overall funds allocation for development and production of Tejas is of the order of Rs 25000/- crores.'The supersonic fourth generation fighter will form a 200-strong fleet for the IAF to replace its ageing Russian-made MiG-21 fleet and increase the squadron strength to 10 as a potent strike force over the next two decades.The two squadrons of 20 Tejas each will be stationed at Sulur near Coimbatore and Kayathur near Tuticorin both in Tamilnadu.