Scorcher show, afterburn thrill

Scorcher show, afterburn thrill
BY S. RAGHOTHAM
BENGALURU


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I Antony, thrilled by Tejas, says no cut in defence spend I ‘ There’s no confusion in the government on nuclear command and control in PM’s absence. There’s a clear command and control hierarchy. ? The indigenous nuclear submarine project is in the final stage. ? The Government of India will give top priority to Bengaluru’s security. It is one of the most important cities of the country. — A.K. Antony

Speed, style and the rush of pure adrenaline. The world’s lightest combat aircraft began Bengaluru’s air show party on a steep climb. Then, Indian Navy pilot Capt. Jaideep Maolankar brought the Tejas aircraft down to 300 feet, flew inverted close to the stands, took a hard right turn to show its high angle of attack capability, looped up vertically in the distance, and finally came down to do a lowlevel, high-speed flypast, as if in a salute to the 6,000 people on the ground, astounded enough to ignore the scorching heat beating down on them.
The 7th edition of Aero India got off to a flying start on Wednesday as several chiefs of foreign air forces and Ratan Tata — he, of the Tata family, which has “aviation in their blood” — watched.

Four Tejas aircraft, led by Air Commodore Rohit Verma, principal pilot of the National Flight Test Centre, flew a formation fly-past.

There were more complicated manoeuvres after the Tejas: the Eurofighter Typhoon’s split S, vertical rolls and diving spirals, the American F-16’s signature 9G turn on a knife edge, the Russian MiG-35’s Cobra manoeuvres, and the Indian Air Force’s Russian-made Sukhoi-30 MKI’s looptumble-yaw and tail-first descent.

But for about five minutes, it was all Tejas brilliance, prompting defence minister A.K. Antony, who witnessed the inaugural display, to later say, “As defence minister, I am excited. After many years, today, we could see our own, indigenous LCA doing manoeuvres. It was the most exciting event of the day for me.” Mr Antony also said India would not reduce its defence budget despite the gloomy economic situation. “Anybody looking seriously at our security situation will have to conclude that India has to modernise its military quickly. We don’t think there will be a real improvement in our security situation in the near future. India will have to be prepared,” he said.

“Mumbai was not totally a terrorist attack. It was inspired and sponsored by a section of responsible agencies of state,” he said clearly referring to rogue arms of the Pakistani establishment.

Evidently in high spirits after seeing the LCA soar, Anthony said, “India is emerging as a world aerospace power. Times are changing. When I became Defence Minister, I had two dreams: one was to see the LCA Tejas become a reality, the other was to see the Arjun Main Battle Tank become a reality.

Both these projects are now at breakthrough stages. We will be able to induct them in a couple of years. “Trying to build a bridge between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the armed forces, the minister called on the forces to procure most of its equipment from within India, adding that the DRDO must deliver products to the military’s satisfaction, and on time.