Bangalore: The prototype vehicle-1 (PV-1) of Tejas, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), made its maiden flight today (Nov 25).

The third of the multi-role lightweight aircraft was piloted by Squadron Leader Suneet Krishna and flew for over 43 minutes over the Bangalore sky, official sources said.

Tejas PV-1 was chased by a MiG-21 fighter piloted by Wing Commander Vikram Singh and Krishna reported an excellent flight and handling qualities of the LCA.

The first Technology Demonstrator of Tejas (TD-1) was first flown in January 2001 and the second demonstrator (TD-2)'s maiden flight happened in July 2002 and both the aircraft have clocked 124 flights since then.

"All the vital parameters were fine and the aircraft behaved well with the weather being perfect," Krishna said.

Tejas PV-1 is built with about 40 per cent composites as its structural weight and 95 per cent of its surface as aircraft skin, which has resulted in a weight reduction of about 746 kg as compared to the first two aircraft.

The aircraft is also equipped with the indigenous Head Up Display (HUD) and features a composite torque shaft for its shudder, Aeronautical Development Agency officials said.

A new software integrated with the aircraft will allow Tejas to fly beyond 1.4 mach, much faster than the 1.2 mach speed achieved by the first two technology demonstrators.

The flight was witnessed by ADA Director and Programme Director (LCA) Yogesh Kumar, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Executive Director (Design) Yogesh Kumar and several Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), HAL and ADA officials at the HAL airport.

PTI