Tejas, India’s own Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), has been inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) today, and it’s a big moment for both HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) and DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation! It’s also a proud moment for every Indian, since Tejas is India’s first combat aircraft for the IAF, that carries the ‘Made in India’ tag.
IAF has raised the first squadron of Tejas with the induction of two aircraft into the force and plans to put it in combat role by 2017. Two LCA Tejas have been handed over by HAL to ‘Flying Daggers’ 45, the name of the first squadron of the LCA.
In May this year, IAF chief Arup Raha had his maiden sortie in the Tejas and gave the LCA a big thumbs up! Raha called it a “good aircraft for induction”. “It is my first sortie in Tejas, it is a good aircraft for induction into IAF operations,” Raha said.
We take a look at five reasons why the induction of Tejas is a big day for IAF and a proud moment for every Indian:
1) Tejas is perhaps the world’s smallest lightweight, multi-role single engine tactical fighter aircraft. It is a single engined, light weight, highly agile, multi-role supersonic fighter.
2) Tejas is equipped with a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system to ease handling by the pilot. It has intentionally been made longitudinally unstable to enhance manoeuvrability.
3) The induction comes at a time when IAF desperately needs replacement for its MiG 21s. IAF has a depleting fighter aircraft strength, and while Tejas has been designed for only light combat, it will nevertheless provide a much needed boost to the air force.
4) Comparisons have often been made between Tejas and JF 17, an aircraft that has been jointly been developed by Pakistan and China. IAF itself believes that Tejas is better and has been quoted saying in the past, “It (Tejas) is a better one since it is mostly made of composite which makes it light and very agile. It also comes with smart ammunitions and bombs which help it to hit targets in a precise manner.”
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5) Incidentally, Tejas has also caught the attention of foreign buyers with Sri Lanka and Egypt evincing interest in the indigenously built fighter jet. The two countries are interested in the current version of the Tejas and not the upgraded one which will be rolled out later.
However, HAL is focusing on delivering the aircraft to the IAF first. Two things that go in favour of the Tejas are its lower cost and flying ability.
(With inputs from Agencies)