New Delhi: In one of its kind, Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday became the first defence minister to fly in the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in Bengaluru.
Tejas is a four-and-half generation light combat aircraft developed by state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
#WATCH Defence Minister @rajnathsingh flies in Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, in Bengaluru. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/xYgTdse2mC
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) September 19, 2019
Looking sharp in the flying suit, Rajnath flew in the LCA’s trainer as a familiarization sortie from the HAL airport in the city’s eastern suburb.
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Before taking off for a 30-minute sortie, the pilots of the 45 Squadron Flying Daggers acquainted the Defence Minister with the air prowess of the home-grown fighter, its avionics, controls and radar in the glass cockpit and the weapons it carries for strike power. He was flown by a senior IAF pilot.
Earlier former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman flew in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter of the IAF on January 17, 2018, from Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan. She was also the first woman Raksha Mantri to fly in a fighter as a “co-pilot”.
In past former Presidents, Pratibha Patil and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam also flew in Su-30 on November 25, 2009, and June 8, 2006 from Pune in western Maharashtra when in office as Supreme Commander of the armed forces.