- HAL & IAF teams watched the Indian flying history being created in Changi
By Sangeeta Saxena
Singapore. 16 February 2022. It was Day 1 at Singapore Airshow 2022 , a hot sunny after noon and all eyes were on the skies above Changi. The flying display had begun and it was the turn of Indian fighter LCA Tejas. A vibrant and forceful voice broke through the speakers announcing the entry of Tejas from the right. And what happened next was a great combination of a voice over from ground and flying splendour in the skies.
Aerobatics at its creative best and skill of the man behind the machine got claps and gasps from the crowd cheering from below. It was a sheer visual bonanza. It’s aerobatics made the aerial display resplendent. Three LCA’s flew down from their Indian Base to Singapore and landed on Changi East Runway after flying over the Ocean. 44 team members from IAF, officials from HAL and the Defence Attache Embassy of India in Singapore are all part of the team Tejas at the airshow at Changi.
It is a dream machine to fly, claim the men who fly it and is the best in it’s class. The wing and fin are made of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer. It is one of the smallest and lightest fighter aircraft of its class in the world. Tejas is a single engine, light weight, highly agile, multi-role supersonic fighter. It has quadruplex digital fly-by-wire Flight Control System (FCS) with associated advanced flight control laws. Extensive use of advanced composites in the airframe gives a high strength to weight ratio, long fatigue life and low radar signatures. Aeronautical Development Agency was the designated project manager for the development of LCA and did a great job in collaboration with the Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) .
Performance Specification Measurement are as impressive . Length13.2 m, Span8.2 m, Height4.4 m, Maximum Take of Weight13.5 tonnes, Payload5.3 tonnes, Speed1.6 Mach, Radius of Action 300 km, Takeoff distance1700 m, Landing distance1300 m and Service Ceiling16 km. Power Plant is a GE 404F2/J-IN20 (1 in no.) (General Electric)Turbofan engine with Max. Thrust : 5618 kgf.
LCA programme created an indigenous aeronautical ecosystem for India. Very few know that it flew a record 5,000 sorties without accident. The idea behind the LCA programme was to expand and develop India’s indigenous aerospace capabilities. Not only does it march towards fulfilling the gap in Indian Air Force but also has a major export potential in not only South Asia and South East Asia but also in Africa and South America. It gives the opportunity to possess the state-of-the-art technology in prices much reasonable. For the last two years plus LCA has been participating in the static and flying displays at most of the regional airshows and has attracted eyeballs for sure.
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