HAL handed over the first LCA Tejas twin
seater to the Indian Air Force in the presence of Rakha Rajya Mantri, Mr. Ajay
Bhatt at a ceremony in Bangalore on 4 October 2023. It is a huge boost to
self-reliance, said the minister in his address to the packed audience. "I
am proud to be part of this historic occasion and salute the spirit of HAL
which has been spearheading Swadeshi manufacturing in defence", he said.
He unveiled the twin seater LCA. "In all, 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 VR Chaudhari said that the IAF would be going forward
to procure 97 more LCAs and with this it would have 220 LCAs in its
inventory.
Mr. C B Ananthakrishnan, CMD (Addl. Charge),
HAL said that the company was committed to deliver all the twin seater aircraft
pertaining to IOC and FOC contract to 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 graced by Chief of Air Staff
Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Mr C B Ananthakrishnan, HAL CMD (Addl. Charge),
Mr Girish S Deodhare, Director General, ADA, Mr A P V S Prasad, CE (A),
CEMILAC, 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. It is an amalgamation of contemporary concepts and
technologies such as 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. The
production of the LCA twin seater variant adds India to the list of very few
countries who have created such a capability and have them operational in their
Defence Forces, another feather in the cap of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat"
initiative of Govt of India.
