| Summary/Abstract |
The 1st of July was a red letter day for Indian military aviation, with the indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ formally being inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Tejas is only the second combat aircraft to be developed in India after the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Marut, which entered IAF service over five decades ago. The distinction of becoming the first IAF squadron to be equipped with the Tejas went to No.45 Squadron ‘Flying Daggers’, which was earlier based at Naliya in Gujarat and flew the MiG-21 Bis. It is also the first fighter squadron to be part of the IAF’s Southern Air Command, headquartered in Thiruvanathapuram in Kerala.
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