Ambala: Five Rafale jets landed at the Ambala air base Wednesday afternoon.The 5 jets are a part of a larger 36 jet contract The fighter jet, to be inducted into the Indian Air Force’s ‘Golden Arrow’ squadron, is the first imported fighter jet to be inducted into the IAF in 23 years after the Russian Sukhoi-30 fighters. The first Su-30 entered IAF service in 1997.
The five jets touched down at the airbase amid heightened security; the district administration also issued a complete dawn-to-dusk ban on photography of any sorts under Sec-144 of Indian Penal Code.
The five Rafales escorted by 02 SU30 MKIs as they enter the Indian air space.@IAF_MCC pic.twitter.com/djpt16OqVd
— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) July 29, 2020
IAF chief RKS Bhaduria was at the airbase to receive the Rafales and the team of pilots led by Group Captain Harkirat Singh, the commanding officer of the No 17 Squadron, also known as the “Golden Arrows”.
The first Rafale’s tail number, RB-001, denotes the initials of the IAF chief Rakesh Bhadauria who had spearheaded the complex negotiations for the Rafale deal.
While taking cognizance of the rocket threat from China, the IAF strategy has been fine tuned to an art form and put to practice through more than 6,000 sorties alone on the eastern front during the recently concluded Exercise Gagan Shakti.
“The moment the red flag is up, we will disperse the aircraft from the designated fields to all along the border with China with sufficient ammunition in those bases to take care of the air operations,” said a serving Air Force commander.
PNN/Agencies
