10 things you should definitely know about the brand new ‘Made in India’ fighter jet ‘Tejas’

Indian Air Force (IAF) got the first squadron of ‘Made in India’ fighter jets ‘Tejas’, now named 'Flying Daggers 45'.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over two Tejas aircrafts, which were inducted in Bengaluru, and seven more will be added by 2017 to become fully operational.

All squadrons of Tejas will be made up of 20 planes in total, including four in reserve.

These Light Combat Aircrafts (LCA) entered Air Force 33 years after the project was conceived, giving a major boost to Indian defence aviation system.

Tejas will eventually replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21 planes.

Here are the other details about Tejas that you should not miss

1. The name Tejas, which means radiance, was given by former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

2. The first Commanding Offier of the ‘Flying Daggers 45’ will be Group Captain M Rangachari. He will have seven officers under him
initially, 42 air warriors and about 20 non-commissioned officers.

3. IAF's squadron number 45, 'Flying Daggers', has to its credit the shooting down of a Pakistani naval surveillance aircraft in 1999, some 300 km northeast of Karachi, killing all 16 people on board.

4. Tejas is far superior to Pakistan's JF-17 built jointly with China.

5. While the idea to have an indigenous fighter aircraft was conceptualised in 1970s, actual work started on the aircraft only in the 1980s and the first flight took place in January 2001.

6. It is pegged as the world's smallest and lightest supersonic fighter, a project which was started in 1983 with Rs 560 crore funds. Now, the total cost stands at around Rs 55,000 crore.

7. The upgraded version of Tejas, with Active Electrically Scanned Array Radar, Unified Electronic Warfare Suite, mid-air refuelling capacity and advanced beyond the vision range missiles, will cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.

8. Due to its small size and the extensive usage of carbon composits, Tejas’ radar cross section is very less compared to other aircrafts like MiG-29, F-16.

9. Tejas will have a reach of at least 400-km and will mostly be used for close air-to-ground operations. For any strikes which happen deep into enemy territory will have to be undertaken by Russian-origin Sukhoi-30MKIs or the Rafales.

10. IAF plans to induct over 80 aircraft with better specifications known as Tejas 1A.

(Image: Reuters)