AMN / BENGALURU
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today flew on familiarisation sortie on the indigenous fighter aircraft LCA Tejas in Bengaluru. In a tweet, the Defence Minister said flying on ‘Tejas’ was an amazing and exhilarating experience. He said Tejas is a multi-role fighter with several critical capabilities and is meant to strengthen India’s air defence capabilities.
Speaking after the sortie which lasted around 30 minutes, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he chose the aircraft because it was built indigenously. He said countries in South East Asia have shown interest in buying Tejas aircraft. Mr Singh said India has reached the level of exporting fighter planes to the world.
The Defence Minister was accompanied by Air Vice Marshal N.Tiwari, who is also the Project Director, National Flight Test Centre, Aeronautical Development Agency.
Tejas, a single engine, delta wing, multi-role light fighter, was designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and is produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force. The latest test for the Indian Navy variant of Tejas is also being extensively tested in Bengaluru and Goa. The LCA Tejas, had bagged the Final Operational clearance (FOC) recently.