Tejas, built by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), is a single-engine multirole light fighter.
PV Sindhu (Photo: twitter/@DDnewslive)
India’s ace badminton player P.V. Sindhu will fly in HAL’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at the ongoing Aero India air show here, an official said on Friday.
“Sindhu will co-pilot the Tejas aircraft as part of the Women’s Day to be observed at the air show on Saturday,” a Defence Ministry official said.
Tejas, built by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), is a single-engine multirole light fighter.
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The aircraft received its final operational clearance (FOC) on Wednesday from military aviation regulator Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (Cemilac) for induction into the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a weaponised fighter jet in its operational fleet.
The homegrown aircraft was flown by the Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday, who hailed it as a wonderful aircraft.
Women’s Day, being observed on Saturday at the expo, will showcase women’s achievements in the aerospace sector and all-female crews will fly a few aircraft as part of the air display.
Three women IAF fighter pilots are also expected to fly the Hawk-I advanced jet trainer of BAE Systems plc and an upgraded version of the Russian-made MiG-21.
Women achievers in the sector will be felicitated on the occasion and a book and film on ‘Women in Aviation’ will be released.
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