The newly inducted aircraft ‘Tejas’ was named by the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Tejas, which means ‘radiance’ in Sanskrit, made its first flight on January 4 in 2001. Tejas will be used to replace the Indian Air Force’s ageing fleet of Mig-21 and MiG-23 aircraft. The aircraft is indigenously developed by Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.