Marking its first public appearance since arriving on Indian land, the Rafale fighter jet will take part in the Air Force Day parade on October 8, the Indian Air Force said on Saturday.
“Rafale is a 4.5 generation twin-engine, air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, depth attack, anti-ship and nuclear deterrent fighter jet equipped with a wide range of weapons,” the IAF tweeted on Saturday.
The IAF is operating its newly installed Rafale fighter jets in the Ladakh theater, where the army is on its highest alert. The IAF’s current fleet of five Rafale fighters is fully operational and ready to take on any mission. India ordered 36 Rafale jets from France in a deal worth 59 billion rupees in September 2016.
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The air force formally installed the planes at Ambala air base on September 10, although they landed at their base of operations on July 29. At the induction, IAF chief RKS Bhadauria made it clear that the fighter jets were mission ready and the ceremony marked his “full operational induction” into the air force.
The Rafale jets are part of the IAF’s No. 17 Squadron, which is also known as the “Golden Arrows.”
The IAF has been projecting its ability to carry out all-weather day and night combat missions in the Ladakh sector, with front-line fighter jets, attack helicopters and multi-mission helicopters taking off for demanding night missions from ahead. air bases.
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