CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Chief of Staff of the United State Air Force (USAF) Gen . David L Goldfein flew a sortie on India’s indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas on Saturday. He is the first service air chief of a foreign country to fly on the Tejas.

Detailed explanation-2: -The HAL Tejas LCA is the only operational Made-in-India fighter jet and is among the lightest war planes in the world. The Tejas LCA puts India among a league of the handful of nations capable of making their own fighter jets.

Detailed explanation-3: -Egypt. The Egyptian Air Force’s intetntion to purchase the Tejas was first announced during the 2021 Dubai Air Show.

Detailed explanation-4: -Defence expert Qamar Agha said that if compared to Sukhoi, Tejas is much lighter. The government had informed the Lok Sabha on Friday that Malaysia is procuring 18 Tejas fighter jets while the US, Argentina, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia and Philippines too have shown interest to procure the light combat aircraft (LCA).

Detailed explanation-5: -The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme was initiated to replace the ageing Soviet-made MiG-21 fighter jets. In 2003, the LCA was officially named “Tejas” by the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee.