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Ambala: President Draupadi Murmu on Wednesday flew in the Rafale fighter aircraft, which played a key role in ‘Operation Sindoor’ launched by India in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, at Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana, her second flight in an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft.
Air Chief Marshal AP Singh was among others present at the Air Force station. Before taking off, President Murmu inspected the guard of honor at the air base.
The President waved as she left for the flight. Dressed in Indian Air Force pilot’s uniform and carrying a helmet before take-off, his flight is a symbolic display of confidence in the operational readiness of the Indian Air Force and growing air power capabilities.
Manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation and formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 in Ambala, the Rafale jet played a key role in ‘Operation Sindoor’.
On April 8, 2023, President Murmu, Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, became the third president and second female head of state to fly in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam.
Former Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil flew in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at Air Force Station, Lohegaon, near Pune on June 8, 2006 and November 25, 2009, respectively.
Manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, the Rafale fighter aircraft was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force at Air Force Station, Ambala in September 2020.
On July 27, 2020, the first five Rafale aircraft from France were inducted into 17 Squadron, ‘Golden Arrows’. The Rafale was the first imported fighter jet to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in 22 years after the Russian Sukhoi-30 fighters, the first of which entered Indian Air Force service in June 1997.
–IANS