Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday took to the skies in the home-grown Light Combat Aircraft Tejas at the Aero India show in Bengaluru.
“It’s a wonderful aircraft. If aircrafts like this get added to the IAF inventory, it will increase our air power,” General Rawat said after taking a sortie in Tejas.
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“Flight in LCA Tejas was an experience of a lifetime. From what I could witness, avionics are very good. Its targeting is very good,” said the Army chief adding, “We were doing normal maneuvres. We did not do the loop.”
The aircraft got clearance after performing air-to-ground attacks and air-to-air refuelling at IAF’s Vayu Shakti air display at Pokhran in Rajasthan on February 16, Air Marshal Dhanoa told the reporters on Wednesday.
Tejas combat jets have been manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which has been one of the focal points for the opposition to target the Narendra Modi government amid row over Rafale deal.
Earlier, Aero India saw a tragedy when a pilot of the Surya Kiran aerobatic team died following a mid-air collision during rehearsal last week.
Aero India show in Bengaluru began on February 20 and will end on February 24.