Hot weather trials over, LCA readies for ground attack test

The Light Combat Aircraft is heading for a crucial test of its ground attack capabilities in Rajasthan.

After firing its first air-to-air missile in October last year, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is heading for a crucial test of its ground attack capabilities in Rajasthan. The trial, which is the next step in the weaponisation of the home grown fighter, will see the LCA delivering precision guided bombs in the Pokhran firing ranges later this year.

The weaponisation of the aircraft started last year with the test firing of a Russian R-73 close combat missile from the fighter off the Goa coast.

The test firing was dubbed as ‘most significant milestone’ in the history of the 23 year old LCA development programme.

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The decision to conduct ground attack tests on the fighter comes after a round of hot weather trials at the Nagpur Air Force station. While detailed results of the tests, which subjected the aircraft to extreme weather conditions, are not yet available, DRDO officials said that ‘a first look at the test data indicated that all the trial objectives were met satisfactorily’.

The trials were aimed at checking the efficiency of aircraft systems under high temperature conditions of over 40 degree Celsius which is a minimum requirement of the Indian Air Force (IAF). All aircraft systems, including avionics, flight control system and the air conditioning system were tested on ground as well as in flight.

“Two prototype aircraft PV2 and PV3 undertook a total of seven flights of four hours duration at Nagpur. The tests included flights at 200 metres above the ground with a speed up to 1000 km/h after ‘hot soaking’ the aircraft on tarmac for 2 to 4 hours. During ‘hot soaking’, the aircraft skin temperature reached above 70 degree Celsius,” a DRDO statement said.

After the completion of the hot weather trials, the fighter will now head for Leh this winter for a round of cold weather tests.

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While dates have not been finalised, the aircraft will be based out of Leh for several days during winter and the tests will include flights over the Siachen glacier, a DRDO official confirmed.