New Delhi:
India is all set to roll out its indigenous naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility in Bangalore on Tuesday, which will be witnessed by Defence Minister A K Antony.
"The first indigenous naval Light Combat Aircraft , the LCA (Navy) NP1, is scheduled to roll out from HAL Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) hanger on July 6," a Defence Minister official said on Monday.
An important milestone for the naval programme of Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the aircraft would be brought out of the hanger where it was assembled part-by-part during the roll-out.
Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma will be the chief guest at the event. The aircraft is being readied for induction into the Navy and for deployment on board the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), currently under construction at the Cochin Shipyard, by 2015.
Following the roll-out, the Naval LCA, with state-of-the-art technologies and punch, will be ready for the phase of systems integration tests leading to ground runs, taxi trials and flight trials.
Once the ground based tests are completed , the 'NP1' is expected to fly by the end of this year and the NP2 is likely to fly by the end of 2011.
The government had sanctioned the LCA (Navy) programme in 2003 and the first stage of development included design and fabrication of a trainer and a fighter, NP1 and NP2 respectively, along with a Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at Goa naval air base, which has already come up.
The SBTF is being used to simulate carrier take off and arrested landing and as a training facility for future pilots of the naval LCA. It is also being used for training on the newly acquired MiG-29K fighter jets, bought from Russia to be operated on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, which is under a repair and refit programme in a Russian shipyard.
"The first indigenous naval Light Combat Aircraft , the LCA (Navy) NP1, is scheduled to roll out from HAL Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) hanger on July 6," a Defence Minister official said on Monday.
An important milestone for the naval programme of Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the aircraft would be brought out of the hanger where it was assembled part-by-part during the roll-out.
Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma will be the chief guest at the event. The aircraft is being readied for induction into the Navy and for deployment on board the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), currently under construction at the Cochin Shipyard, by 2015.
Following the roll-out, the Naval LCA, with state-of-the-art technologies and punch, will be ready for the phase of systems integration tests leading to ground runs, taxi trials and flight trials.
Once the ground based tests are completed , the 'NP1' is expected to fly by the end of this year and the NP2 is likely to fly by the end of 2011.
The government had sanctioned the LCA (Navy) programme in 2003 and the first stage of development included design and fabrication of a trainer and a fighter, NP1 and NP2 respectively, along with a Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at Goa naval air base, which has already come up.
The SBTF is being used to simulate carrier take off and arrested landing and as a training facility for future pilots of the naval LCA. It is also being used for training on the newly acquired MiG-29K fighter jets, bought from Russia to be operated on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, which is under a repair and refit programme in a Russian shipyard.
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