Upon the skies of Bengaluru, the inaugural Flight LA5033 of the Tejas MK1A Aircraft sequence embarked from the HAL premises on Thursday. Marking a triumphant journey spanning 18 minutes, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited relayed in an official declaration.

In the face of formidable supply chain hurdles amidst the global geopolitical milieu, HAL attained a momentous production milestone through concurrent design and development, following the formalization of the contract in February 2021, as elucidated by CMD HAL C B Ananthakrishnan in the official proclamation. Steering the flight was CTP, Gp Capt K K Venugopal (Retd).

Gratitude is extended by HAL to MoD, Indian Air Force, DRDO/ADA, CEMILAC, DGAQA, and the MSMEs whose contributions facilitated the triumph of this endeavor. The aforementioned statement underscores the anticipation of prompt Tejas Mk1A induction by the IAF and augmented production through the establishment of three production lines at HAL.

The Tejas Mk1A is poised to feature sophisticated electronic RADAR, warfare capabilities, communication systems, enhanced combat prowess, and upgraded maintenance attributes.