The induction and operationalisation of the indigenous fighter jet light combat aircraft Tejas received a major boost with Air Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Air Command undertaking a solo flight for 30 minutes from HAL Airport, on November 14, 2017.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has established the state-of-the-art aircraft assembly line including second production line for LCA to meet the operational requirements of the IAF. Currently, HAL has the production capacity of eight LCAs per annum and is ramping up the capacity to 16. Major sub-assembly such as front, centre and rear fuselages and wings have been outsourced to the private players. The 45 Squadron of the IAF ‘The Flying Daggers’ was the first squadron to be equipped with LCA-Tejas in July last year.

The Squadron which is expected to move to its permanent location at Sulur, near Coimbatore, next year is presently involved in training of air and ground crew, formulation of procedures and realisation of the operational potential of the aircraft.