BENGALURU: The ‘Flying Daggers’ squadron of the Indian Air Force, raised in Bengaluru with the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), will be shifted to Sulur near Coimbatore next year. The squadron is presently involved in training of air and ground crew, formulation of procedures and realisation of the operational potential of the aircraft.
On Tuesday, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOCIC) of the Southern Air Command, Air Marshal R K S Bhadauria, took to the skies in a Tejas in Bengaluru for a 30-minute solo flight.The Tejas is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and manufactured by Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd which has established a state-of-the-art aircraft assembly line, including a second production line, to meet the operational requirements of the IAF.Currently, HAL has a production capacity of eight LCAs per annum and is ramping up the capacity to 16. The ramping-up cost is shared equally by HAL and IAF/Navy. Major sub-assembly such as front, centre and rear fuselages have been outsourced to private players.