Overview
- The Indian Air Force commemorated the milestone with a post praising ADA, HAL and test crews, recalling the first flight on January 4, 2001 by Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal from Bengaluru’s HAL Airport.
- Speaking at ADA’s Aeronautics 2047 seminar in Bengaluru, DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat said Tejas is inducted and the emphasis now moves to LCA Mk II and the fifth‑generation AMCA, both tracking to plan.
- Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh inaugurated the event and stressed meeting delivery timelines to sustain operational readiness.
- Production scale‑up continues after a late‑2025 order for 97 additional Tejas Mk‑1A jets, on top of 83 earlier, with private firm VEM handing over the first centre fuselage assembly in May 2025.
- ADA reports more than 5,600 flight trials and 38 aircraft inducted into two IAF squadrons, alongside recent successes including an ASTRA BVRAAM launch and high‑altitude trials of an OBOGS‑based life‑support system.