Historic Day! PM Modi Flies Light Combat Aircraft

financialexpress.com:

In a historic moment for the Indian Air Force (IAF) Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Prime Minister to fly the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ when he co-piloted a trainer version of the aircraft on Saturday. The sortie was in the twin-seater trainer variant which is being operated by the IAF and the navy.

He got the first-hand experience of Made in India LCA when he was accompanied by an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot attired in a G-suite. The LCA took off from the airport of the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bengaluru.

PM Modi visited HAL on Saturday and according to officials he reviewed the ongoing work at its manufacturing facility.

After the sortie which lasted a few minutes, the Prime Minister posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Successfully completed a sortie on the Tejas. The experience was incredibly enriching, significantly bolstering my confidence in our country’s indigenous capabilities, and leaving me with a renewed sense of pride and optimism about our national potential.”

Successfully completed a sortie on the Tejas. The experience was incredibly enriching, significantly bolstering my confidence in our country's indigenous capabilities, and leaving me with a renewed sense of pride and optimism about our national potential. pic.twitter.com/4aO6Wf9XYO

The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, a product of collaborative efforts between the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has been a stalwart in the IAF arsenal for over seven years. Currently, the IAF operates two squadrons of the Tejas: No 45 Squadron, known as the ‘Flying Daggers,’ and No 18 Squadron, the ‘Flying Bullets.’

Introduced in 2003, the Tejas stands as a testament to