In the first-ever incident involving the indigenously designed and manufactured fighter jet, a Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) crashed on Tuesday in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The pilot ejected safely, and no injuries were reported on the ground. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has ordered a mandatory court of enquiry to ascertain the cause of the mishap.
“A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas of the Indian Air Force crashed near Jaisalmer today during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely,” the IAF said in a brief statement. Reports from Jaisalmer said the aircraft caught fire after the crash, near a students’ hostel complex. Military sources said the jet, belonging to the IAF’s number 18 squadron or ‘Flying Bullets’, was one of the three Tejas aircraft which were to be part of the wargame in Pokhran.
The crash took place around 100 km from the Pokhran desert, where a mega war game ‘Bharat Shakti’ witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top military brass was underway.
This is the first crash of the indigenous jet since its first test flight 23 years ago, in 2001. Tejas was inducted into the IAF in 2016. Tejas is a single-seater fighter aircraft, and a twin-seat trainer variant is also operated by the Air Force. The Indian Navy also operates the twin-seater variant.
The first test flight of the Technology Demonstrator-1 (TD-1) took place in 2001, and the maiden flight of the Second Series Production (SP2) Tejas aircraft of Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) configuration took place on March 22, 2016.
Manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Tejas is a 4.5-generation multi-role fighter aircraft designed to provide offensive air support and close combat support for ground operations. Tejas is the smallest and lightest aircraft in its class, and its dimensions and extensive use of composite structure make it lighter. In 2016, the first IAF Squadron to induct the Tejas was the No 45 Squadron, the ‘Flying Daggers’.
The Indian Air Force presently operates 40 Tejas MK-1 aircraft. In February 2021, the Defence Ministry sealed a `48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas MK-1A jets for the IAF. In November last year, the ministry accorded initial approval to procure an additional batch of 97 Tejas jets for the IAF.
