HAL beams with pride as Defence Minister flies Made in India Tejas

38-year-old Lakshmi had gotten to work early on Thursday and as she stood in line, alongside her other colleagues from HAL, she was beaming with pride. In the last 4 years, she had worked on the aircraft that India's defence minister would fly in and she stood waiting for him to arrive. Just a few minutes after 9 am, defence minister Rajnath Singh, amidst heavy security and a long line of cars, arrived at HAL airstrip in Yamalur, Bengaluru. After the brief welcome, he was taken inside by officials of HAL. A few minutes later, a photograph of the defence minister in his G-suit surfaced. 

By 9:30, flanked by pilots of the India Airforce, the defence minister emerged and walked briskly towards the LCA Tejas, readied and parked hours before. Rajnath Singh, donning a g-suit and aviators, smiled and waved at the cameras before climbing to his seat, as a co-pilot. He was assisted by pilots of the  45 Squadron Flying Daggers. The defence minister, while chatting with his copilot, took his time to get acquainted with what he could expect over the next 30 minutes and also the safety precautions. All set, he showed a thumbs up just before the glass door of the cockpit was closed. 

READ: Rajnath Singh credits HAL, DRDO, and IAF for Made in India Tejas

Minute later, Air Vice Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, moved towards the aircraft runway, made a 90-degree turn before disappearing from the line of sight of cameras. The strong sound a few seconds later confirmed that the light combat aircraft had taken to the skies of Bengaluru.  AVM N Tiwari was chosen for this special flight because not only was he one of the senior-most pilots of IAF but is also the Project Director of the National Flight Test Centre, ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) in Bengaluru. 

While we waited for the defence minister, flown by AVM N Tiwari, to land back at the HAL airbase, we chatted with some of the close-to-hundred HAL and DRDO employees who had gathered to witness the special flight. At first hesitant to speak to media, some of them opened up about why they were there. Prashanth S said that he had briefly worked on the design of Tejas many years ago. For him, to have been a part of the team which gave India its very own light combat aircraft was a matter of pride. He said he felt ecstatic that he could witness the defence minister of India fly in the aircraft years later. 

READ: Rajnath Singh: 'Curiosity' led me to fly the Tejas

Work on developing light combat aircraft began as early as 1980 in India but took decades for the design and production. Tejas, as LCAs were christened in 2003, have been indigenously procured and produced in India-a shining example of make in India.  And speaking on the same lines another employee of HAL who worked for over 8 years on Tejas, animatedly said that while the LCA has made headlines several times the last few years, the defence minister choosing to fly in a trainer version gives much impetus to the aero-scientists. Personally, he said, he felt encouraged with the attention Tejas is getting.

While defence ministers in the past have co-piloted fighter planes-Nirmala Seetharaman who flew in a Sukhoi-30 in January, 2018 and AK Antony piloting a MiG-29K in May 2013, for instance- this is the first time a defence minister has been flown in a home-grown fighter aircraft. In that sense, Rajnath Singh’s familiarization sortie made history. Right after landing, amidst cheers and applause from the onlookers and pilots, the defence minister looked enthusiastic and comfortable, smiled and waved to the crowd that had gathered in an otherwise no-entry zone, to see him take to the skies in Tejas. When he, along with his co-pilot, spoke to the media, Mr Singh said the flight had been smooth and AVM N Tiwari had not just explained the technical aspects mid-air to the defence minister but they even leisurely chatted about the IAF pilot’s family. For a couple of minutes, under instructions of  AVM N Tiwari, Rajnath Singh even dexterously took control of the flight, they said. 

READ: Rajnath Singh takes off on Tejas LCA sortie; 1st Defence Min to do so

Post the press conference, while the crowd slowly dispersed, we chatted with yet another HAL employee. He had worked on making some parts of the aircraft. Sreenivasan told us that he is due to retire in a few months and couldn't contain his excitement last week when a naval version of the LCA made an arrested landing atop INS Vikramaditya off Goa’s shores. And today when he witnessed the defence minister fly in Tejas, he said he would retire a proud HAL employee.

READ: DRDO Chairman says Rajnath Singh flying Tejas 'a significant event'