Tejas, a tale of Indiaâs nascent aerospace system with a happy ending
Sunday, January 17, 2021
By: The Print
In a boost to Indiaâs fledgling domestic aerospace ecosystem, the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the Rs 48,000-crore deal for 83 Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, which included 73 Mark 1A versions, on 13 January.
The first big order to the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for Tejas, which will become the backbone of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the coming years, is a landmark in the aircraftâs journey of over three and a half decades.
It is a culmination of Indiaâs effort to build a frontline fighter aircraft, which began in the 1950s. It was in 1961 that HALâs HF-24 Marut, designed by Kurt Tank, the German aeronautical engineer who built the Luftwaffe aircraft in World War II, first flew.