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Rafale fighter aircraft to make debut in Air Force Day parade on October 8
The first five of IAF`s Rafale aircraft arrived at Air Force Station in Ambala on July 29, 2020
Highlights
- The IAF which was founded on October 8, 1932, will celebrate its 88th anniversary at the Air Force Station Hindan in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).
- The IAF made the announcement through a post on their official Twitter account. Talking about the aircraft that will be the part of the celebrations, IAF wrote, "The Rafale 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."
Ghaziabad: The Rafale fighter aircraft that was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force's (IAF) famous 17 Squadron, the 'Golden Arrows', at the Ambala airbase in Haryana on September 10, is set to make its Air Force Day parade debut on October 8.
The IAF made the announcement through a post on their official Twitter account. Talking about the aircraft that will be the part of the celebrations, IAF wrote, "The Rafale 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."
The IAF which was founded on October 8, 1932, will celebrate its 88th anniversary at the Air Force Station Hindan in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).
In pics: IAF’s lethal flying machines that give India an ‘edge’ over Pakistan, China
Notably, the first five of IAF's Rafale aircraft arrived at Air Force Station in Ambala on July 29, 2020. The aircraft got airborne from Dassault Aviation Facility, Merignac, France on the morning of July 27 and reached India with a planned stopover en-route at Al Dhafra airbase in the UAE.
The ferry was undertaken by IAF pilots and the aircraft covered a distance of nearly 8500 km from France to India.
The aircraft is a part of 17 Squadron, the 'Golden Arrows', which was resurrected on September 10, 2019. The Squadron was originally raised at Air Force Station in Ambala on October 1, 1951, and in 1955, it was equipped with the first jet fighter, the legendary De Havilland Vampire.
In August 1957, the Squadron became the first to convert on to a swept-wing fighter, the Hawker Hunter.
"The Rafale aircraft will give India a strategic advantage in case of any aerial combat with China in the mountainous Tibet region as the fleet will be able to use the terrain to its advantage, destroy enemy air defence and incapacitate the surface-to-air missiles," news agency PTI quoted former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal (retd) BS Dhanoa as saying.
Besides Rafale, Mi-35, SU-30MKI 'Flanker', AH-64E Apache, C-130J 'Super Hercules', and C-17 'Globemaster' will also feature in the 88th-anniversary celebrations.
Also read | Explained: Here's how Rafale fighter jet can give IAF huge edge over China and Pakistan