Bengaluru: 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. 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.