Arup Raha to Fly in LCA Tejas

LCA Tejas

Arup Raha, the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, will soon fly his maiden sortie in the LCA Tejas.

The flight is to review the development in the program as well as show the Air force's interest in the aircraft as a platform for the much needed point defense fighter to replace the MiG-21.

Raha will also inaugurate the LCA paint hangar in Bengaluru and visit the production line of the aircraft.

The IAF has given an order of 120 Tejas, with 100 of them being an upgraded version. He will fly a sortie in a Tejas trainer aircraft which is a two seater, defence sources said.

He will also visit the hangar where the Mirage 2000 is being upgraded.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), manufacturer of Tejas, is likely to hand over the fourth aircraft to IAF by June end. The four aircraft will make up for the first squadron of IAF which will be used for training and familiarization.

As per the production plan, six aircraft will be made this year (2015-16) and HAL will subsequently scale it up to eight and 16 aircraft per year.