The Indian air force and army chiefs on Sunday flew together for the first time in a combat aircraft.

IAF Chief Marshal A.P. Singh and army chief General Upendra Dwivedi flew for 45 minutes in the indigenously built light combat aircraft Tejas a day before the Aero India Show 2025 in Bengaluru begins. The Tejas aircraft took off from the Yelahanka Air Force Station in north Bengaluru.

The 15th edition of the country’s biennial air show — Aero India — will begin on Monday and is being organised by the department of defence production under the defence ministry.

The five-day aerospace exhibition, considered the largest in Asia, will be attended by representatives from 90 countries and over 700 Indian and foreign defence companies.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday visited the production facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. He also visited the state-of-the-art Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A production facility of HAL. The Tejas Mk1A is an advanced version of the LCA Mk1, enhanced to improve combat efficiency.

The event will host a CEOs’ conclave and a defence ministers’ conclave focusing on new-age warfare, sustainable defence manufacturing and public-private partnerships. Over 100 companies, including more than 50 international firms, will exhibit advanced defence technologies

Aero India 2025 will also showcase two fifth-generation fighter aircraft — the Sukhoi Su-57 from Russia and the F-35 from the US — along with cutting-edge missile systems, aerospace technology and AI-driven defence solutions.

“For the first time in history, Aero India 2025 will witness the participation of two of the world’s most advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft — the Russian Su-57 and the American F-35 Lightning II,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

“It marks a milestone in global defence collaboration and technological advancement...”