Tejas flight bolstered my confidence in indigenous tech: PM Modi
LCA) on Saturday, describing the experience as enriching.
Modi, who is the first serving PM to fly on an indigenous fighter jet, undertook the sortie in a two seater trainer version of the aircraft, flying from Bengaluru where the LCA is manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
«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,» the PM posted on social media after the sortie.
The PM was flown by Group Captain Debanjan Mondal and videos released after the sortie showed him climbing into the cockpit and flying at high altitude with a chase aircraft in tow.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and other senior air force officers were present on the occasion.
The Modi government has strongly supported the indigenous LCA project, having already placed orders for 83 of the Mk1A variant of the fighters. In addition, an order for 97 more of the fighters is being processed and is expected to be cleared shortly.
The first of the Mk1 A version is expected to be delivered by early next year.
India has also recently announced a deal for manufacturing of GE F414 engines under technology transfer pact with the US. These are for the under development Mk2 variant of the LCA, with numbers ordered expected to be in excess of 100.
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