Bengaluru: Rajnath Singh has scripted history by becoming the first defence minister to fly the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas'. Rajnath Singh undertook 30-minute sortie in the indigenously-built multi-role fighter aircraft at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport in Bengaluru Thursday morning. He was accompanied by Air Vice Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari.
Singh described his experience of flying the fourth-generation aircraft as 'thrilling and special'. He congratulated HAL, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) for building the multi-role fighter aircraft. The defence minister said that the demand has been received from various countries for 'Tejas'. He expressed pride that India has reached a stage where fighter aircraft and arms & ammunition can be exported to the world.
"Rajnath Singh even controlled 'Tejas' in the air for some time and was shown the Avionics and Sophisticated Systems onboard the aircraft am proud of the soldiers of our Armed Forces, he was very happy with the quality and smoothness of the aircraft"- Air Vice Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari
The happy defence minister after the swift sortie praised the Indian Air Force as well as Army & Navy for their professionalism, courage and bravery. "I am proud of the soldiers of our Armed Forces", he said.
Air Vice Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said Rajnath Singh even controlled 'Tejas' in the air for some time and was shown the Avionics and Sophisticated Systems onboard the aircraft. He said, "Rajnath Singh was very happy with the quality and smoothness of the aircraft".
Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO R. Madhavan, CMD, HAL and other senior officials of DRDO and HAL were present on the occasion.
Tejas is a multi-role fighter with several critical capabilities. It is meant to strengthen India's air defence capabilities. Recently Tejas successfully executed a textbook arrested landing at the INS Hansa after several years of flight testing and four campaigns of dedicated testing.