IAF LCA Tejas to have a special pilot to fly in the fighter in Bengaluru
Tejas designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Aeronautical Development Agency is India's home-grown single-engine multirole light fighter to replace the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Bison aircraft.
Key highlights:
- Tejas, the soon-to-be-inducted French Rafale and Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs will be the backbone of IAF for the next several years.
- The IAF had in December 2017 issued a request for proposal (RFP) to HAL for the 83 Tejas jets. Out of the 83 Tejas aircraft, 10 are likely to the twin-seater version to be used for training the pilots.
- The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) standard certification, which means the aircraft is combat-ready, was issued by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to Tejas
- Tejas has already been equipped with mid-air refuelling, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, electronic warfare suites, several different types of bombs, missiles and weapons.
