Belgaum: The near-perfect production-standard version of India’s light combat aircraft Tejas is ready for its first flight at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport in Bangalore. Sources confirmed to Express on Wednesday that the Flight Readiness Review Board has cleared the Limited Series Production (LSP-8) of Tejas for its flight, with a rider that it needs to undertake one more engine-ground run , low-speed taxi trial and high-speed taxi trial.
“We are closing in and the flight is expected in the next couple of days, if there are no last-minute surprises,” a source said. The last LSP variant of Tejas is gearing up for the flight just after Defence Minister A K Antony recently asked its makers not to extend the final operational clearance for Tejas. The LSP-8 is of the initial operation clearance configuration and marked for the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots to undertake flight evaluation trials, along with LSP-7.
28/03/13 Anantha Krishnan M/New Indian Express
