Prospective Customers To Be Allowed To Fly LCA Tejas At Aero India 2017

India will allow prospective customers to fly the indigenous light combat aircraft LCA Tejas prototype at the upcoming Aero India air show.

“We will have Prototype vehicle 5 and 6 (PV5 and PV6) at the air show. We will allow prospective customers to fly the aircraft. A limited series production variant of the aircraft will also be present on static display. We will allow people to check the real cockpit, unlike previous times when we would have mock-up of it,” Cmde CD Balaji (retd), chief of Aeronautical Development Agency said during a press conference on Aero-India international seminar-2017 Saturday.

The aircraft has been cleared for air-to-air role. About Air-to-ground capability, over the last 6-7 months, we have had intensive air-to-ground campaigns at Jaisalmer and Pokhran. So far as radar is concerned, we have changed it COTS radar.

"Radar ranges improved by 25-30 percent.  The fourth capability is the air-to-air infusion. We had one aircraft modified for the purpose and has done about six sorties already.  We have also integrated a gun on the aircraft. Butt firing has been done," Balaji said.

Apart from pilots from test pilots ADA-HAL, No 45 Squadron pilots of IAF, Turkmenistan Air Chief has flown the Tejas.