By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI
NEW DELHI — India’s defense minister says his country’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program should be inducted into the Indian Air Force by the end of this year or early next year. The program is 15 years behind schedule.
After reviewing the schedule for the plane’s development, Defence Minister A.K. Antony told Parliament in an Aug. 5 letter that he has asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Aeronautical Development Agency to adhere to the schedule of obtaining initial operational clearance (IOC) for the plane at the end of this year, followed by final operational clearance (FOC) at the end of 2014. Induction is likely after IOC, he wrote.
An official with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which will produce the LCA, said HAL can produce four planes per year, but added that HAL could bring that number to eight within a year after IOC clearance.
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