Are You Flyin' My Way?

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Aeronautical Development Agency will finally be inducted into the IAF. Sources say the parameters of the deal have been finalised and will be formally inked next month. The IAF has placed orders for 20 LCAs, each costing roughly Rs 110 crore each. The Rs 2,000-crore deal will see the fighters handed over to the IAF in a tentative time-frame of three years. The LCA project was drawn up in the mid-’80s as an indigenous option to replace the MIG-21s. But the project dragged on, and the first test aircraft could only be tested in 2001.