BANGALORE: While the delay in the completion of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was lamented by the armed forces, the developers of the Kaveri Engine stated that the tests of the same was encouraging. Interacting with media persons after the celebrations of the Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, V K Saraswat said that the first phase of the flight evaluations on board, the IL-76 aircraft was successful. He added that Phase II would start once the specific modification was done.
Commenting on the delay of the protoypes of LCA, both navy and air force versions, he said, “It is a step beyond prototypes. So we should not look at few months of delay very seriously.” He added the LCA Navy should fly in a month. He shared that the taxi trials were underway and said that they had to ensure the systems and equipment of the two versions were working.