AERONAUTICAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS (HAL)
Aeronautical Development Agency, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, PB 1718,Vimanapura Post, 560 017 Bangalore,India; Tel:+91 80 523 7294 Fax:+91 80 523 8493
| Manufacturer | MTD | M.T.R | W/span | F/Lgth | M/Speed Kts/Mach | H | Op Ceil. | C |
| LCA Fighter/attack | 51.3kN | 80.2kN | 8.2 | 13.2 | M 1.6 | 7 | 49,210 | 1 |
| 1 x GTRE Kaveri Military Turbofans/Jets | ||||||||
| T/O weight is clean, speed: supersonic at all altitudes |
Aeronautical Development Agency, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, PB 1718,Vimanapura Post, 560 017 Bangalore,India; Tel:+91 80 523 7294 Fax:+91 80 523 8493
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)
The first prototype of India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was rolled out in November 1995, but, as of July 1998, had yet to be flown. The programme has been further hampered by a US embargo following India's nuclear tests, blocking Lockheed Martin from assisting in development of the flight control system. A first flight of the single-seat, single-engine light fighter is not now expected until mid-1999 at the earliest. Initial prototypes will be powered by GE's F404-F2J3. India's Gas Turbine Research Establishment is developing the Kaveri engine for later prototypes and production aircraft.
The Indian air force requires up to 200 LCAs, built by HAL, to replace MiG-21s. The aircraft, which has a compound-delta wing, is designed as a multi-role, all-weather fighter and has a 13,000kg maximum take-off weight. The primary mission is air superiority.
French manufacturer Dassault acted as consultant during the project-definition phase for the aircraft.
Source: Flight International
