Five Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCAs) along with 110 Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel arrived at Al Dahfra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the eighth Desert Flag multilateral exercise. For the first time LCA Tejas will take part in an international flight exercise outside India.
“The Indian Air Force will send five LCA Tejas fighter jets and two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to participate,” the IAF said in a statement. Desert Flag is a multilateral air exercise Air forces from the United Arab Emirates, France, Kuwait, Australia, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Morocco, Spain, the Republic of Korea and the United States will also participate, it said.
The IAF added that the exercise, scheduled to run from February 27 to March 17, aims to engage in various fighter engagements and learn best practices from various air forces.
The IAF currently has two LCA squadrons, one in Initial Operational Configuration (IOC) and the other in Final Operational Configuration (FOC). Another more capable 83 LCA-MK1A is on order and the IAF plans to start receiving them from early next year.
In addition, several countries have expressed interest in LCA, notably Malaysia, Argentina and Egypt.
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