Relevance: Prelims
The naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas made it’s first-ever short arrested landing on the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa.
- This is a big step for the LCA to eventually operate from INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier.
About:
- The naval LCA made its maiden flight in April 2012 and two prototypes have been flying as part of the development. The first Naval Prototype (NP)-1 made a successful first flight from the SBTF in 2014.
- The naval LCA is designed with stronger landing gears to absorb forces exerted by the ski jump ramp during take-off, to be airborne within 200m and land within 100m, as against 1,000m required for normal runways.
- In December 2016, then Navy Chief Adm Sunil Lanba stated that the LCA in the present form “does not meet the carrier capability which is required by the Navy” but added that they would continue to support the development programme.