LCA PV2 attains supersonic speed with weapons

Bangalore, May 13 (UNI) The second prototype of Indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, PV2, considered to be the operational version of the world's lightest fighter aircraft, was today successfully test flown for supersonic speed in a weaponised mode.

It first made a supersonic flight yesterday and followed it up with another flight today for 24 minutes armed with two state-of-the-art air-to-air missiles. This indicated the Jet's entry into operational flight test pace, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) here said.

The aircraft was flown by Wing Commander Vikram Singh for 24 minutes.

The Tejas was meant to replace the IAF's ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG jets in the 2010 time frame. In all, four LCAs--two technology demonstrators and two prototypes had logged over 525 flights.

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