"She flew absolutely beautifully. Even if you closed my eyes, I could have felt it had gone supersonic," said Wing commander Vikram Singh, who flew the plane for 35 minutes and at supersonic speed for 10 seconds.

The aircraft reached Mach 1.08 speed, said V.K. Aatre, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, after witnessing the flight.

It has been built to be able to achieve 1.8 Mach speed.

The aircraft handled its supersonic dash brilliantly, officials of the Aeronautical Development Agency said.

"All systems on board functioned satisfactorily throughout the flight," they said.

When ready, the Light Combat Aircraft is likely to become the mainstay of the Indian Air Force, replacing a fleet of crash-prone Russian-built MiGs.

The Light Combat Aircraft will, however, have to fly many more test flights before it joins the air force fleet.

WAR.WIRE