Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sortie in a Tejas fighter jet in Bengaluru during his visit to the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Saturday. While talking about his experience, the Prime Minister said that it was incredibly enriching and significantly bolstered his confidence in India's indigenous capabilities. He added that the sortie gave him a renewed sense of pride and optimism about the national potential.
PM Modi took to X to share his experience and wrote, "Successfully completed a sortie on the Tejas. The experience was incredibly enriching, significantly bolstering my confidence in our country's indigenous capabilities, and leaving me with a renewed sense of pride and optimism about our national potential."
The Prime Minister went to Bengaluru to review the ongoing work at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's manufacturing facility.
PM Modi has been pushing for the indigenous production of defence products for quite some time and he has highlighted how his government has been working to boost manufacturing in India along with increasing exports.
The first version of the Tejas was inducted into the IAF in 2016 and currently, two squadrons of the IAF, 45 Squadron and 18 Squadron, are fully operational with LCA Tejas, reported news agency ANI.
Under the Modi Government, an order for the delivery of 83 LCA Mk 1A aircraft worth Rs 36,468 crore has been placed with HAL. The delivery for the said order is expected to begin in February 2024. ANI reported while citing sources that more than Rs 9000 Crore have been sanctioned for the development of LCA Mk 2 which will be an updated and more lethal version of LCA Tejas.
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According to an India Today report, numerous countries have shown interest in buying Tejas, which is a light combat aircraft. US Defence Giant GE Aerospace inked a pact with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to produce engines for the MK-II-Tejas during PM Modi's visit to the US.