Rafale to feature in Air Force Day parade
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 3
Rafale fighter aircraft will take part in the Air Force Day parade on October 8. The fly-past will be conducted over the Hindon air base, 20 km east of the national capital.
Tweeting about the capabilities of the Rafale, the IAF said, “It is a 4.5 generation, twin-engine omnirole, air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship and nuclear deterrence fighter aircraft, equipped with a wide range of weapons.”
This will be the first time the Dassault-made multi-role fighter jets will make public appearance since they were inducted into the IAF at the Ambala air force station last month. The fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh amid the standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Rafale jet is part of the IAF’s 17 Squadron, Golden Arrows. The IAF has deployed almost all its frontline fighter jets, such as Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft, in the key frontier air bases in eastern Ladakh and elsewhere along the LAC. The IAF is also carrying out night time combat air patrols in the eastern Ladakh region.
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after the country signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
