New Delhi: The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas made its maiden appearance in the 68th Republic Day parade by joining in the fly-past over Rajpath on Thursday. It had earlier flown at Indian Air Force (IAF) Day in 2016. The LCA was inducted into 45th Squadron of the IAF in last July.

Here are the key facts on Tejas:

■ The LCA programme was intended in part to further expand and advance India’s indigenous aerospace capabilities.

■ The Tejas aircraft’s design was finalised in 1990 as a small tail-less delta winged machine with relaxed static stability (RSS) to enhance maneuverability performance and a host of other advanced features.

■ The LCA is the smallest and lightest multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft of its class.

■ Tejas is designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the IAF and the Indian Navy.

■ Prior to the Republic Day parade and IAF Day, Tejas was also flown at the IAF’s fire power demonstration Iron Fist, Aero India, and the Bahrain International Airshow.

■ Tejas is a 4th generation aircraft and can fly at 1,350 kmph and is comparable to the world’s best fighter jets of its generation such as French Mirage, US fighter jet F-16, and Swedish Gripen.

■ Two Tejas aircrafts were inducted into the IAF’s 45th Squadron last year on 1 July.

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