The Indian Air Force has inducted the first squadron of the indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas into its fleet. An induction ceremony to induct two Tejas aircrafts was held at the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bengaluru. The crew members of the first squadron of Tejas, a multi-role supersonic single-engine aircraft designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

HAL handed over the first two Tejas aircraft to the IAF which will make up the ‘Flying Daggers’ 45, the name of the first squadron of the LCA. The aircrafts also performed a sortie during the induction ceremony. Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, who on May 17 took his maiden flight in Tejas, had termed the aircraft as good for induction.

Did You Know?

• The light combat aircraft was named ‘Tejas’, which means ‘radiance’, by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• Tejas incorporates a distinctive ‘glass cockpit’ in which information is displayed real-time to the pilot.
• Tejas also has open architecture software for avionics, which can be updated by DRDO as and when required. 
• Unlike Mig-21, LCA Tejas is of a newer generation. It has better avionics and improved cockpit. Since Tejas uses carbon composites in its structure, it is lighter in weight and has a much stronger body compared to Mig-21 bisons.