Tejas

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

The “successful” sortie of the first Tejas Mk1A, bearing company serial number LA-5033, lasted 18 min. and was flown by chief test pilot KK Venugpal.

Indian Air Force investigators are probing the March 12 crash of a Tejas light combat aircraft—the first such accident since the type’s initial test flight.

Al Tariq, a joint venture between Edge and South Africa’s Denel, launched the studies in February.

Changes to India’s military procurement process would have implications for the broader world combat aircraft market.

India has carried out the first live firing of the indigenously developed Astra air-to-air missile from its HAL Tejas fighter.

A joint statement hailed the agreement as a “trailblazing initiative that would “enable greater transfer of U.S. jet engine technology than ever before.”