The first batch of 5 fighter aircraft took off from Al Dhafra air base in UAE at around 11 am IST on Wednesday (July 29) and will land at Ambala Air Force Station at 2 pm to join 'Golden Arrows' Squadron of Indian Air Force (IAF). Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria will be present at Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana to receive Rafale fighter jets.


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From the geographical and strategic point of view, Ambala is situated almost equidistant from the LoC and the LAC on its northwest and northeast respectively. The Ambala IAF base already houses two squadrons (No. 14 and No. 5) of Jaguar aircraft. 


The base offers good reach towards the western and northern borders and, at the same time, is far enough inside to escape surveillance by adversaries. According to IAF officers, Ambala was chosen for housing Rafales in the western sector due to several factors such as depth from the border, base infrastructure and technical facilities, airspace availability for local flying and training as well as allocation of IAF assets at other airbases in the region. 


Air Vice-Marshal Sunil Nanodkar (Retd), who served a years-long stint at the Ambala air base as commanding officer of a Jaguar squadron, said it has seen many “first” inductions. “Whether it’s the French Mystere aircraft, the first two squadrons of the Jaguar aircraft, or even the first MiG-21 Bison squadron, and now the Rafales, they were first inducted at Ambala,” he added. 


A total of 234 operational sorties were flown from Ambala as part of Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil conflict, which included several missions at night.  
More recently, the Mirage 2000s are reported to have operated from Ambala during the strike across the Line of Control on terrorist camps at Balakote in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. 


The air base was established in 1919 and home to the Bristol Fighters of the 99 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. It saw several changes in its role before coming to its present designation of No. 7 Wing on August 1, 1954. 


In the early days aircraft such as De Havilland 9A and Bristol F2B flew out of Ambala. As air operations in India began increasing, more officers were transferred to Ambala and it was made a permanent air force base on June 18, 1938. 


Immediately after Independence, Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, then a Group Captain, took command of Ambala airbase. He led the first flypast over the Red Fort to mark Independence Day. 


In the early years after Independence, the Indian government could access the eastern frontiers only through air and it was during this time that Ambala airbase played an important role in controlling the tribal disturbances in the North East. It was then also made the centre for aerial photographic survey, a new advancement in this field which proved to be of great value later.