INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A domestically made fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Tuesday in the western state of Rajasthan, the first such incident
since the jet was inducted nearly eight years ago, Reuters reported.The pilot ejected safely, the air force said in a statement.Prime
Minister Narendra Modi&s government has been pushing for local manufacturing as India seeks to shed its reputation as one of the world&s
biggest importers of defense equipment.The light combat jet, called Tejas, meaning flame or brilliance in Sanskrit, was inducted into the
force in 2016 after a long wait in India&s efforts to modernize its largely Soviet-era fleet.Tuesday&s crash breaks the jet&s safety record
since its first test flight more than two decades ago, an air force officer told Reuters.Modi set out big ambitions last year to more than
triple the value of annual defense exports to $5 billion by 2025 from 2023 levels and his government has been making diplomatic efforts to
export the Tejas.The Indian government in 2021 gave a $6 billion contract to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for 83 Tejas jets.The
Tejas has been beset by design and other challenges, and was once rejected by the Indian Navy as too heavy.The post India-made fighter jet
Tejas crashes for first time; pilot ejected safely first appeared on Ariana News.
