The Indian Air Force on Friday inducted two India-made Tejas Light Combat Aircraft into its first squadron at the Aircraft System Testing Establishment, reported The Hindu. The IAF is set to launch the new Squadron 45 ‘Flying Daggers’, of which 18 aircraft will be inducted in 2018.

The event was attended by Air Marshal Jasbir Walia, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief of the Southern Air Command. The force has picked Tamil Nadu's Sulur as the base for the Light Combat Aircraft. Though the Indian government started the LCA project in 1985, it got its Initial Operational Clearance or first level of flight worthiness only in 2013. The aircraft are expected to get Final Operational Clearance by the end of 2016.