Dr. Jitendra Jaisingh Jadav, Director General of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), clarified that the crash of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) first Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was due to engine maintenance lapses, specifically with the GE F404 engine, rather than design flaws. He emphasized that the Tejas airframe has shown no design-related failures across over 5,000 flight hours. This incident, which occurred during the Bharat Shakti exercise, has intensified scrutiny on the Tejas program amidst ongoing IAF efforts to replace aging MiG-21s. The situation underscores the critical importance of adherence to maintenance protocols and highlights the collaborative efforts of ADA, HAL, and GE to enhance operational safety, reinforcing confidence in India’s indigenous defense capabilities.