In a first, the Rafale fighter jet will be taking part in the Air Force Day Parade on October 8, the Indian Air Force said on Saturday.
“Rafale – 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 said in a tweet.
This would be the first time the five-Dassault-made multi-role fighter jets will be seen after it was formally inducted into the IAF at the Air Force Station in Ambala last month. The fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh amid prolonged border row with China in 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 like 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.
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria had said the recent induction of Rafale jets along with previous acquisitions of C-17 Globemaster aircraft as well as Chinook and Apache helicopters have provided the IAF with substantial tactical and strategic capability enhancement.
“Air power will be a crucial enabler in our victory in any future conflict. It is, therefore, imperative that IAF obtains and maintains technological edge over our adversaries,” he said.
The IAF chief had said that the raising of two squadrons of light combat aircraft Tejas and integration of some indigenous weapons on Su-30 MKI combat jets in a very reduced time frame have been the ”most promising” development.
The first batch of the five jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
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