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President Droupadi Murmu flew in a Rafale fighter jet on Wednesday at the Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana, her second flight in an Indian Air Force (IAF) combat aircraft. The Rafale fighter jet played a critical role in India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh was among those present at the Air Force Station. Before departing, President Murmu observed the guard of honour at the air base.
The President waved as she took off for the sortie. Dressed up in a Indian Air Force pilot’s uniform and carrying a helmet ahead of the sortie, her flight marks a symbolic show of confidence in the Indian Air Force’s operational readiness and growing air power capabilities.
Rafale jets were manufactured by French aerospace manufacturer Dassault Aviation and formally introduced into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 in Ambala. They played an important role in ‘Operation Sindoor’.
On April 8, 2023, President Murmu, the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces, became the third President and the second woman to fly a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter plane at Assam’s Tezpur Air Force Station.
Former Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil flew sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft from the Air Force Station in Lohegaon, near Pune, on June 8, 2006 and November 25, 2009, respectively.
Rafale fighter aircraft, built by French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation, were formally admitted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Air Force Station in Ambala.
The first five Rafale aircraft landed from France on July 27, 2020, and were inducted into 17 Squadron, the ‘Golden Arrows’. The Rafale was the first imported fighter jet admitted into the Indian Air Force in 22 years, replacing the Russian Sukhoi-30 fighters, the first of which entered service in June 1997.
Source: IANS
