Times of Islamabad

Indian LCA Tejas fighter jet naval version makes a new development years after being rejected by Indian Navy

Indian LCA Tejas fighter jet naval version makes a new development years after being rejected by Indian Navy

NEW DELHI – The naval version of the indigenously-built Light CombatAircraftlink(LCA)successfully took off from the “ski-jump” deck of the aircraft carrier INSVikramaditya on 12 January. A video of the takeoff was released onWednesday by the Indian Navy.

​The navy will be conducting about 20 more such tests of arrested landingslinkandtake-offs from the ski-jump deck in the next few days.

With the successful maiden take-off from the ski-jump deck of India’s onlyaircraft carrier, the light combat aircraft has achieved another milestone,the Indian Navy spokesperson said.

On Sunday, the navy had only released pictures of the take-off.

​The naval version of the LCA received a major setback when in December2016, the then Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba rejected the jet in the formit was in at that time.

The Navy then issued a request for information to buy 57 new fighters tosupplement the Russian-built MiG-29Ks that it presently operates.

The Air Force has put in an order for an 83 additional Tejaslink.The present air variant is capable of undertaking air defence operationsand a conventional ground attack with heavy bombs, Sputnik has reported.