Tejas Set to Begin High-altitude Trials

The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) campaign of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is set to gain momentum with the high altitude trials scheduled this week in Leh. Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Director P S Subramanyam told Express on Tuesday that during the Leh trials, the aircraft engine would be started at lower than -10 degree Celsius.

“We will also evaluate the aircraft performance at low temperature and high altitude. This time, we need to also test the performance of various sensors at the hilly terrain,” Subramanyam said. Only one aircraft is participating in the current trials with ground support teams already being positioned at Nasik, Pathankot and Leh. “These trails will not exceed more than a week. We have the next phase of weapon trials in Jamnagar, scheduled in March,” the ADA chief said.

He said the number of test flights of Tejas dipped in January owing to the preparatory phase for the FOC campaign. “Various activities for the FOC have been initiated much before the Initial Operational Clearance event in December 2013. Most of the FOC parameters that we need to achieve have reached the halfway mark,” he said.

Currently the aircraft from the Tejas flight-line are being upgraded to the FOC configuration to undertake flight trials. 

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Chairman R K Tyagi said the production activities at the company’s Light Combat Aircraft (Production Group) unit are pacing ahead as per the plan.