Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in the light combat aircraft Tejas at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) site in Bengaluru on Saturday (25 November), pictures of which were shared on social media. HAL manufactured Tejas Fighter Jet HAL, developed primarily to replace the ageing squadron of MiG 21 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force.
According to an HT report, the Indian Air Force and Defense Ministry had signed an agreement with HAL to purchase 324 Tejas aircraft, including all its variants. Many special features of this fighter aircraft also need to be mentioned.
Tejas is an Indian-made single-engine fighter jet developed from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme. It started in the 1980s. It is a delta wing and light multirole fighter.
Tejas is a supersonic fighter aircraft that is the crown jewel of the Indian Air Force and the smallest and lightest aircraft. There is demand for it in other countries also. America (US) has recently signed an agreement with HAL for joint manufacturing of Mark II Tejas Aircraft.
The indigenously developed Tejas are being inducted into the Indian Air Force in a phased manner to replace the ageing MiG 21 squadrons, dubbed ‘flying coffins’ due to many pilot deaths.
Tejas is capable of air-to-air refuelling (AAR) and is equipped with active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar and electronic warfare (EW) suite, making it superior to most fighters in its category.
Tejas is a fully missile-armed combat aircraft with missile capabilities beyond visual range and air-to-surface weapons with minimum reloading time.
