New Delhi, Oct 29 :
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday took a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet at the Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana, making her the first President to fly in IAF’s most modern fighter aircraft.
Deployed during ‘Operation Sindoor’ against Pakistan in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Rafale is considered a 4.5-generation fighter aircraft and is armed with unmatched weapon systems and sensors with multi-role capability. Visuals from Ambala showed the President boarding the aircraft for the sortie.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, in a statement on Tuesday, had announced that the President will take a sortie in the Rafale on Wednesday. The President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, last took a sortie in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam, on April 8, 2023. Former presidents A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had undertaken sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon near Pune on June 8, 2006 and November 25, 2009, respectively.
The President was scheduled to visit Ambala on October 18, but had to
Five Months after
postpone her visit due to unknown reasons. Today’s visit marks her first to one of the oldest Indian Air Force stations, home to a Rafale fighter aircraft Squadron.
Manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, Rafale fighter aircraft were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Air Force Station, Ambala. The first five Rafale aircraft, which had arrived from France on July 27, 2020, were inducted into 17 Squadron, the ‘Golden Arrows’. As reported earlier, India could soon become the first country to produce a 4.5-generation fighter aircraft without being an Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM, as Dassault Aviation of France is planning a Rafale Assembly Line in India with an eye on the Indian Navy and Air Force orders.
Dassault has a current backlog of close to 200 Rafales, which includes outstanding deliveries for existing orders of 80 aircraft for the UAE, 42 for Indonesia, 12 for Croatia, Egypt 54, Greece 24, Qatar 36 and a potential 26 for the Indian Navy.
Quoting sources, IANS has reported that Dassault, with its current capacity limited to 24 aircraft per year, is likely to establish an additional production line at its joint venture, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) in India.
India is a big market, and the Indian Air Force is looking at purchasing 114 fighter aircraft. A Request For Proposal for this is expected in the next six months. This will be one of the largest orders for fighters anywhere in the world. Indian Naval order for 26 aircraft is also expected to be finalised within the next six months, with deliveries starting in 2027.
