Tejas Mk1A Fighter Jet Completes 18 Min Maiden Flight From HAL' Bengaluru Facility

BENGALURU, India – In a significant achievement for India's aerospace industry, the first production variant of the Tejas Mk-1A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) took to the skies today.

The aircraft, designated LA5033, lifted off effortlessly from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility in Bengaluru for an 18-minute maiden flight – a crucial milestone in the advanced fighter jet's development.

HAL reaching this production milestone is a testament to India's dedication to streamlining the Tejas Mk1A's delivery. The successful flight comes amidst the company's ambitious approach of concurrent design and development alongside production.

This strategy likely involved careful supply chain management to overcome challenges brought about by the global geopolitical landscape after the contract was signed in February 2021.

Gp Capt K K Venugopal (Retd), HAL's Chief Test Pilot (Fixed Wing), masterfully piloted the inaugural flight. His experience was a significant asset in ensuring the test flight's seamless execution.

The Tejas Mk1A is a marked upgrade from the Mk-1, showcasing advancements like:

• Enhanced avionics and weapon systems
• Improved operational capabilities
• Advanced radar technology

These innovations position the Tejas Mk1A as a vital asset to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in its ongoing fleet modernization endeavors, strengthening the nation's domestic defence capabilities.

The success of this maiden flight sets the stage for further rigorous testing and evaluation of the Tejas Mk1A, ensuring its readiness to bolster the IAF's combat prowess.

 

[Hari Sud]

Negative sayers, …….go burry your head in the sand; the plane flew and flew well .

 

[Anant]

Fantastic news! Now, I sincerely pray to HAL to stick to delivery timelines as best as possible. One milestone has been achieved, let's move on to the next one.

 

[Priyan]

When will the first jet be handed over to the IAF? Because an 18 minute first flight hardly makes it completely ready to be inducted in a few days

 

[Mridul baruah]

Good news indeed.

 

[sanket]

When will the first jet be handed over to the IAF? Because an 18 minute first flight hardly makes it completely ready to be inducted in a few days

May b in April or May.............

 

[Fly]

May b in April or May.............

Nah

 

[Fly]

When will the first jet be handed over to the IAF? Because an 18 minute first flight hardly makes it completely ready to be inducted in a few days

What was the average time between FF & induction for FOC jets ?

 

[Ashutosh]

HAL actually need to fix their habit of missing timelines.....this was supposed to happen in Feb but it's already a month delayed.....( And it's still not handed over to IAF)
I know some people will say I'm being a little too pessimistic and negative but one gotta see the larger pic. .
This is only for the LCA program that they are missing timelines
What will happen in near future when they have to produce LCA mk1a, LCA mk2, Su 30mki, TEDBF, Maybe ORCA, AMCA mk1 simultaneously!?

 

[Ashutosh]

One thing I would need to highlight that I actually don't like about any of our agencies is how they advertise and present themselves......
One can see the video of first flight 🤦
The first thing that came in mind was
" Aadhar card vala camera use Kiya hai"
What's with the video quality!?
Is this how you will present yourself!?
Infront of the whole world!?
Ur 4.5 gen. fighter took first flight and u couldn't bother yourself to get a decent camera!?
Just see how Turkey presented KAAN in their videos
Just see how SKorea presented KF21 in its test flight videos......
I m not even going towards Lockheed or Boeing.....

Seriously this is quite bothersome and annoying....

 

[RG]

Congratulations, well done team!

 

[Kira]

Better late than never, hopefully they don't ruin the actual production run.

 

[Sudha]

Not much of an achievement. The airframe is more or less the same with upgradation in parts. The "real challenge" is the capability of HAL to screw drive at faster rate than 4 planes per year on an infra which is meant to screw drive 400-500% more planes.

 

[Sudha]

HAL actually need to fix their habit of missing timelines.....this was supposed to happen in Feb but it's already a month delayed.....( And it's still not handed over to IAF)
I know some people will say I'm being a little too pessimistic and negative but one gotta see the larger pic. .
This is only for the LCA program that they are missing timelines
What will happen in near future when they have to produce LCA mk1a, LCA mk2, Su 30mki, TEDBF, Maybe ORCA, AMCA mk1 simultaneously!?

Gawd! I hope GOI will establish a parallel assembly line in private sector. So many planes to deliver & the best record of HAL is just 4 planes per year. Only god can help Bharat for these inefficiencies of the monopoly organisation HAL.

 

[Sudha]

Negative sayers, …….go burry your head in the sand; the plane flew and flew well .

Why? HAL's inefficiency is in screw driving. Let us see how they fare in that. If IAF is lucky they will deliver atleast 10 planes per year.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

One thing I would need to highlight that I actually don't like about any of our agencies is how they advertise and present themselves......
One can see the video of first flight 🤦
The first thing that came in mind was
" Aadhar card vala camera use Kiya hai"
What's with the video quality!?
Is this how you will present yourself!?
Infront of the whole world!?
Ur 4.5 gen. fighter took first flight and u couldn't bother yourself to get a decent camera!?
Just see how Turkey presented KAAN in their videos
Just see how SKorea presented KF21 in its test flight videos......
I m not even going towards Lockheed or Boeing.....

Seriously this is quite bothersome and annoying....

Yeah, navy makes by far the best videos. Even IAF is great in this regard. I remember that the republic day air show was very well recorded and displayed. Army is miles behind in this area. But i think they contract bharat shakti for doing their PR at least at the video front. That is an improvement.

 

[GMR]

3 cheers... excellent news... Hope HAL will pull up its socks and maintain the production rate as promised... Congrats to all concerned..

 

[Akshat]

Negative sayers, …….go burry your head in the sand; the plane flew and flew well .

First flight 2 months after they were supposed to deliver 3 planes. Kudos to HAL supporters.

 

[Akshat]

Fantastic news! Now, I sincerely pray to HAL to stick to delivery timelines as best as possible. One milestone has been achieved, let's move on to the next one.

One milestone has been achieved with massive delays.

 

[Ashutosh]

Yeah, navy makes by far the best videos. Even IAF is great in this regard. I remember that the republic day air show was very well recorded and displayed. Army is miles behind in this area. But i think they contract bharat shakti for doing their PR at least at the video front. That is an improvement.

Just get some good editors ..... millions are present in YT, they might even do it for free .