Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha gets down after a sortie on the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) at HAL Bengaluru, on Tuesday. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 17

IAF Chief Marshal Arup Raha today took his maiden flight in India’s homegrown Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, calling it “good” for induction. It seems to be a signal that the Indian Air Force will welcome the planes and instil confidence in the local product even as it awaits a final operational clearance.“It is my first sortie in Tejas. It is a good aircraft for induction into IAF operations,” Raha was quoted as saying by the Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The HAL is developing the plane, which has flown over 3,000 test flights since the first prototype flew in 2001. The IAF Chief flew the plane for about 30 minutes at HAL airport in Bangalore around noon today. Group Captain M Rangachari accompanied him in the twin-seater trainer aircraft.“It is a moral boosting gesture from the IAF Chief and reposes great confidence of our valuable customer in our abilities,” said T Suvarna Raju, Chairman and Managing Director of HAL.The IAF Chief carried out simulated air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks. He also assessed the advanced modes of the radar and Helmet Mounted Display Sight (HMDs). The IAF Chief, who in his younger days commanded a MiG 29 squadron, congratulated the entire team of HAL and others involved in getting the LCA programme to this stage.The IAF has 120 Tejas fighters on order. The series production of the jets has already commenced at HAL plant in Bangalore and the first squadron of the LCA is expected to be formed by July. The four aircraft will make up for the first squadron of the IAF, which will be used for training and familarisation.The IAF had decided to go in with an upgraded version of the existing Tejas with 43 modifications, 106 of these Tejas will come with modifications such as Actively Electrically Scanned Array Radar, Unified Electronic Warfare Suite, mid-air refueling capacity and beyond the visual range of missiles. The Ministry of Defence has set 2018 as deadline for the first aircraft to be ready with a target to complete its production by 2022-2023.