By Franz-Stefan Gady
Once again, final operational clearance for the Tejas light fighter aircraft had to be postponed.
India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program is encountering further delays, with final operational clearance postponed to March 2016, according to local media sources.
The supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter aircraft has been under development for the past three decades. The date for final operational clearance was originally December 2015. Final operational clearance implies that the aircraft can fire all of its weapon systems as well as undergo midair refueling.
The delay is due to “non-supply of newly designed quartz radome and a bolt on inflight refueling probe by Cobham UK,” defenseword.net reports.
Furthermore, tests of the French-made Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Derby — a medium-range active radar homing missile — scheduled to be held in May have been pushed back to July, Indian Ministry of Defense sources told local media.
The Tejas LCA, developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency in cooperation with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), achieved initial operational clearance — i.e. was deemed capable of flying in all weather conditions — in December 2013, with the first aircraft handed over to the Indian Air Force in January 2015.
Read the full story at The Diplomat