Recently in news, because the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the first time planned to deploy the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in its mega pan-India exercise called ‘Gaganshakti‘

About: The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-seat, single-jet engine, multi-role light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Navy

Special Feature: The aircraft has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration, which provides for high maneuverability

Origins: It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters. LCA was officially named “Tejas” in 2003, meaning “Radiant” in Sanskrit by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee