In a major milestone in the LCA Tejas programme, the first ever series production standard LCA Trainer (LT 5201), manufactured by HAL, took to the skies for its maiden flight on Wednesday from its airport here, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) announced.
HAL said that the LCA Trainer landed after completing a successful sortie of around 35 minutes.
"Our thanks to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADC), the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA), and the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and others involved in this success."
The video of the sortie shared on social media has gone viral and HAL is showered with praises. The LCA Trainer will be used as training aircraft for pilots who have undergone advanced training.
The development comes weeks after a successful flight-test power take off (PTO) shaft was conducted on the LCA Tejas in Bengaluru. The PTO shaft is indigenously designed and developed by Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), Chennai, of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Defence Ministry stated.
With this successful test, the DRDO has achieved a greater technological feat by realisation of complex high-speed rotor technology that only a few countries have achieved.