Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday said the first aircraft LA5033 of the Tejas Mk1A aircraft series took to the skies from HAL facility in Bengaluru today. It was a successful sortie with a flying time of 18 minutes, it added.
HAL achieved a significant production milestone with concurrent design and development amid major supply chain challenges in the global geo-political environment subsequent to the contract signature in February 2021, the government-run company said.
The aircraft was piloted by Chief Test Pilot, Gp Capt K K Venugopal (Retd).
The test sortie of Tejas Mk1 aircraft took place successfully today. It took off at 1.15 pm and landed back at 1.33 pm.
“HAL achieved this significant production milestone with concurrent design & development amid major supply chain challenges in the global geo-political environment subsequent to the contract signature in February 2021”, said CB Ananthakrishnan, CMD, HAL.
HAL thanks MoD, Indian Air Force, DRDO/ADA, CEMILAC, DGAQA and the MSMEs who have contributed to the success of this programme, he added.
With the continued support of these stakeholders, the country can look forward to early induction of the Tejas Mk1A by the IAF and more numbers through the three lines of production established at HAL, Ananthakrishnan said.
The Tejas Mk1A will have an advanced electronic RADAR, warfare, communication systems, additional combat capability and improved maintenance features.
The development is seen as a major achievement of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited towards self-reliance in terms of producing home-grown aircraft.
