WATCH | US Air Force Chief undertakes sortie on 'Made-In-India' Tejas aircraft from Jodhpur Air Force station

The Chief of Staff of US Air Force will take a sortie on India's indigenous light combat aircraft, the Tejas, from the Jodhpur Air Force station on Saturday morning.

This will be the first time, the head of a foreign military is flying Tejas and the move will somehow silence the critics of home grown fighter jet. 

Goldfein along with General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, Commander of US Pacific Air Force, landed in New Delhi on Thursday to strengthen military ties between the two nations. The top brass of the United States Air Force already had several rounds of discussion with key functionaries of IAF, including Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa at Air Force headquarters. 

The top ranking US military officer had reached India on Thursday on an official visit to deepen relations. "There is already a strong relationship between our two air forces and I'm looking forward to making it stronger," he wrote in a Facebook post shortly after being welcomed at Air Headquarters in the national capital. 

He also referred to the IAF's acquisition of the C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft that is capable of lifting tanks to the border with China and Pakistan.

"The IAF operates the second largest C-17 fleet in the world and continues to mature their fleet operation to support regional mobility needs," the US Air Force Chief said. 

For the Tejas that is being inducted in the Air Force, it is also seen as the biggest endorsement of the fighter that has been in the making for more than three decades.