LIGHT COMBAT AIRCRAFT TEJAS INDUCTED INTO INDIAN AIR FORCE

The light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into No. 45 Squadron of Indian Air Force (IAF) on July 1, 2016. It is the first fighter squadron to be a part of the Southern Air Command of IAF. Tejas is the first advance fly-by-wire fighter aircraft designed, developed and manufactured in India. Conceived as a MiG-21 replacement, the aircraft has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and produced by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. It is to the credit of its designers, manufacturer, technicians and test crew, that LCA has flown more than 3,000 sorties/2,000 hours till date without any accident. Tejas is a fourth-plus generation aircraft with a glass cockpit and is equipped with state-of-the-art satellite-aided inertial navigation system. It has a digital computer-based attack system and an autopilot. It can fire airto-air missiles, Bombs as well as PGMs. The induction of the aircraft is being planned in a phased manner. IAF is also pitching for additional LCA Mk 1A which would incorporate new-generation active electronically scanned array radar with simultaneous air-to-air and air-to- ground capability. IAF plans to induct will be made up of 20 planes, including four in reserve.