Tejas: MS Dhoni praises India's 'latest warbirds'

New Delhi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday hailed the induction of first squadron of the indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas into the Indian Air Force (IAF).

India's limited-overs captain took to micro-blogging site Twitter to congratulate the IAF, and said it is indeed a very proud moment for the country.

"Cngrts to IAF on their latest warbirds and every1 who were part of the project indeed a very proud moment for INDIA," Dhoni tweeted.

Cngrts to IAF on their latest warbirds and every1 who were part of the project indeed a very proud moment for INDIA pic.twitter.com/de6YANPzqE — Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) July 1, 2016

State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will hand over the first two Tejas aircraft to the IAF which will make up the 'Flying Daggers' 45, the name of the first squadron of the LCA. The new squadron will get the remaining 18 aircraft, including four trainers in 2018, with Sulur in Tamil Nadu chosen as the LCA base.

The induction of Tejas comes almost 15 years after it first flew and 33 years after the project was taken up. The IAF has ordered 20 of them in the current IOC (initial operational clearance) version and another 20 in the final, fully-ready condition.

Tejas is a multi-role supersonic single-engine aircraft designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). And it was named Tejas (meaning radiance in Sanskrit) by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

A ceremony to induct two Tejas aircrafts was held at the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bengaluru today, which included a multi religious prayer.

The crew members of the first squadron of Tejas also performed 'Sarva Dharma Pooja'​ and broke coconuts to mark the auspicious occasion.

A Tejas aircraft flown by Commanding Officer Group Captain Madhav Rangachari performed a sortie during the induction ceremony, which was attended by Air Marshal Jasbir Walia, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief, Southern Air Command, and senior HAL executives.

(With Agency inputs)