HAL Hands Over LCA Tejas Twin Seater to IAF in Presence of Minister of State for Defence

HAL handed over the first LCA Tejas twin seater to the Indian Air Force in the presence of minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt at a ceremony in Bengaluru on October 4. In his address to the packed audience, the minister called the occasion a huge boost to self-reliance.

“I am proud to be part of this historic occasion and salute the spirit of HAL which has been spearheading swadeshi manufacturing in defence,” Bhatt said unveiling the twin seater LCA. “The development of LCA Tejas has also brought about a shift in our approach to defence procurement. It has demonstrated that India has the talent, knowledge and capability to design, develop and manufacture world-class fighters”, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari said that IAF would procure 97 more LCAs and with this it will have 220 LCAs in its inventory. CMD (additional charge), HAL, C.B. Ananthakrishnan said that the company is committed to deliver all twin-seater aircraft pertaining to IOC and FOC contract to the IAF in the current financial year. “With this, we are moving one step closer towards achieving self-sufficiency on the fixed wing segment. These trainers also ensure smooth transition for the pilots from trainer to fighter aircraft in this class”, he added.

The event was also attended by director general, ADA, Girish S Deodhare, CE (A), CEMILAC, APVS Prasad, officials from IAF, MoD, DGAQA, DRDO, HAL and production partners. The release to service document (RSD) and the Signalling out Certificate (SOC) were also handed over during the event.

The LCA Tejas Twin Seater is a light weight, all weather multi-role 4.5 generation aircraft. It is designed to support the training requirements of the IAF and augment itself to the role of a fighter in case of necessity. The trainer-fighter has relaxed static-stability, quadraplex fly-by-wire flight control, carefree manoeuvring, advanced glass cockpit, integrated digital avionics systems and advanced composite materials for the airframe.