28 September 2011

India: LCA TEJAS (NAVY) Makes First Engine Ground Run, Objectives Successfully Met - DRDO

Dream of the country’s first indigenous effort to build a carrier borne Naval Fighter aircraft got a fillip with the crossing of another significant milestone of the first Engine Ground Run (EGR) in Bangalore on Monday, Sep 26, 2011 of first LCA(Navy) prototype NP1. The team steering LCA(Navy) project comprises, members of Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, HAL, DRDO, CEMILAC, DGAQA, CSIR Labs, Educational Institutions, other Public and Private Sector partners.

The first EGR of NP1 aircraft was conducted at about 1830hrs yesterday for its schedule time, had the primary objective of checking aircraft to engine integration and activation of the various systems like Flight control, Hydraulics, Fuel, Electrical, Avionics, etc., which was successfully achieved.

The aircraft will now go through a phase of refinements based on feedback identified during the course of the build up and also observed during the EGR, followed by a series of final integration checks and taxi trials before its maiden flight shortly.