Indian Air Force inducts first squadron of homegrown Tejas

In a major milestone in the military aviation in the country, the first squadron of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft Tejas was inducted into IAF with two fighter planes joining the force.

State-run HAL handed over the first two Tejas aircraft to IAF, which makes up the first squadron named ‘Flying Daggers’, at a ceremony preceded by inter-faith prayers at the Aircraft System Testing Establishment. The aircraft was named “Tejas” (meaning radiance in Sanskrit) by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister.

All squadrons of Tejas will be made up of 20 planes, including four in reserve. As per the plan, 20 would be inducted under the “Initial Operational Clearance” and another 20 later with Beyond Visual Range Missile (BVR) and certain other features.

IAF plans to induct over 80 aircraft with better specifications known as Tejas 1A. The upgraded version of Tejas, with Active Electrically Scanned Array Radar, Unified Electronic Warfare Suite, mid-air refuelling capacity and advanced BVRs, will cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.

The idea to have an indigenous fighter aircraft was conceptualised in the 1970s, but actual work started on the aircraft project only in the 1980s. The first flight took place in January 2001 after the project often ran into rough weather and came in for criticism over delay.