Tejas skips major fire power demo exercise following recent accident

New Delhi: The indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) could not take part in the full dress rehearsal of a major fire power demonstration exercise and is likely to miss the main event also, as the fleet has not been flying since an accident took place earlier this month.

Tejas was to be the indigenous showcase at ‘Exercise Vayu Shakti’ – scheduled to take place on Friday (February 27) – where the Indian Air Force (IAF) is highlighting its ability to rapidly punish the enemy and dominate the operational environment. Sources said that the Tejas fighter jet did not fly at the full dress rehearsal that was carried out at Pokhran on Tuesday as the fleet has been undergoing technical checks for over two weeks.

President Droupadi Murmu will be the chief guest at the event that will also highlight the successful aerial missions during Operation Sindoor. As first reported by ET, an in-service LCA suffered an accident earlier this month at an important airbase. The fighter jet suffered considerable structural and fire damage and is likely to be written off. The IAF did not offer comments on the development when contacted. Sources added that the air force does not usually offer comments on incidents that take place within an airbase. As reported, the latest incident involved one of the 32 single seater LCAs that were delivered to the IAF by manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This is the third major accident involving the LCA fleet, with two aircraft already lost to crashes. In a statement, HAL described the latest event as a “minor technical incident”, saying it was working with the air force for a speedy resolution.

HAL, which does not own or operate the aircraft that suffered the accident, did not comment on the extent of damage to the fighter jet, nor did it address the issue of the fleet not flying since the event.