Thirty-two years after the project was sanctioned, the first indigenously -built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was on Saturday handed over by indian Defence Minister to the Indian Air Force.
The handover signals the start of a process of induction of the fighters being built at India.
The aircraft that has been handed over has got Initial Operational Clearance-II, which signifies that Tejas is airworthy in different conditions.
The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) is expected by the year-end.
Twenty aircraft will be built by 2017-2018, to make the first squadron of the aircraft. The LCA programme was initiated in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s in IAF's combat fleet but has missed several deadlines due to various reasons.
indiatoday
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