Bengaluru: Almost a quarter century after it was conceived, India’s indigenous fighter project, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), named Tejas, is in the penultimate stage of gaining Final Operational Clearance (FOC) after which the single-engine cropped compound delta design aircraft should be joining the IAF service.

HAL’s LCA Tejas taking-off

With the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter squadron strength down to an alarmingly 31, against a required minimum of 42, the sword arm of the Indian armed forces, needs to increase its strength to up its game as the US-China stand-off threatens to change the rules of engagement in South Asia.

Given that the Rafale acquisition has turned into a scandal of sorts for the government, buying aircraft off-the-shelf from foreign firms seems to be a scary proposition for the IAF at the moment. Though faced with dwindling numbers of aircraft, the IAF does seem to have a readymade local solution for its problems — the HAL-manufactured LCA Tejas.

Let us look at the history of the LCA. In 1985, the IAF’s Air Staff Requirement for the LCA was put out. Initially, a team of consultants from France’s Dassault-Breguet arrived in India to advise ADA on the project. They completed their work with ADA and left in 1988.