The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas successfully fired the Astra indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile off the coast of Goa. Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) V.R. Chaudhari reviewed the status of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme in Air Headquarters.

• The missile release was successfully carried out from the aircraft at an altitude of about 20,000 ft.
• All the objectives of the test were met and it was a perfect textbook launch.
• The aircraft was also monitored by a Chase Tejas twin-seater aircraft. 
• The test launch was monitored by the Test Director and scientists of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) along with officials from the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DG-AQA). 
• Astra is a BVR air-to-air missile to engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aerial targets, designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and other laboratories of the DRDO.