Photo Gallery: Rajnath Singh becomes first defence minister to fly in indigenous LCA Tejas

Union Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday became the first Defence Minister to fly in the indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in Bengaluru from HAL Airport. Tejas has been designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Aeronautical Development Agency. The induction of this single-engine fighter will allow the IAF to replace the MiG-21 Bison aircraft. In 2017, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had cleared the acquisition of 83 LCA Tejas Mk1A aircraft and the HAL has also ramped up the production of the jet from eight per year to 16. 

Before taking off for a 30-minute sortie, Singh was briefed about the functioning of ‘Tejas’ at the HAL Airport in Bengaluru by the pilots of the 45 Squadron Flying Daggers. 

He then donned the IAF pilot's uniform and also tried to familiarise himself with the formidable fighter jet Tejas.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with other pilots walk towards the aricraft.

A final check is conducted before he entered the cockpit of LCA Tejas.

The 68-year-old sat in the rear seat behind the pilot in the cockpit of the two-seater fighter jet. 

 Singh waved out to the crowds at the Karnataka airport before the fighter jet took to the runway.

A senior IAF officer and a ground staff at the airport guided Rajnath in taking the rear seat inside the cockpit ensuring all safety gear were in place.

Air Vice-Marshal Narmadeshwar Tiwari, Project Director (Flight Test), National Flight Test Centre, flew the aircraft. 

The fighter jet, a twin-seater trainer aircraft, took off from the airport of defence public sector unit Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru for a 30-minute sortie at 9.58 a.m.

On September 13, 2019, the naval version of Tejas made a wire-arrested landing at Shore-based Test Facility (SBTF) INS Hansa in Goa. The DRDO had called the wire-arrested landing a "golden letter day" in the history of Indian Naval Aviation.