PV-3 of Tejas aircraft makes flawless maiden flight

Bangalore, Dec 1 (UNI) In yet another milestone towards achieving indigenous production of fighter aircraft, the prototype aircraft of Tejas, PV 3, piloted by Group Capt. Harish, made its flawless maiden flight here today.

This was the fifth aircraft to take to the skies, joining the fleet of two technology demonstrators (TD 1 and 2) and two proto vehicles (PV 1 and 2), launched by the State-owned aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

An official release here said the perfect maiden flight of the indigenous Light Combat Airctaft (LCA) was a result of maturity gained in development of various systems, building of the aircraft to better quality and the thorough ground testing. The aircraft had been cleared for flight testing in an envelope which meets the requirements of IOC. It would expedite the flight testing to expand and envelope fully and go for weaponisation.

The LCA programme, in spite of the many setbacks it faced due to the US sanctions, had moved forward and completed more than 570 flights. Eleven test pilots from the IAF, who had flown and evaluated these aircraft, had adjudged the handling qualities as one of the best in its class, the release said.

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