President Droupadi Murmu to take a sortie in a Rafale combat jet

New Delhi: Nearly six months after Indian Air Force’s Rafale combat aircraft played a key role in Operation Sindoor, President Droupadi Murmu will take a sortie in the French-origin jet at Ambala Air Force Station on Wednesday.

This would be the second fighter jet sortie for President Murmu – the supreme commander of the armed forces – after her 8th April, 2023 flight in a Su-30MKI aircraft at Tezpur air force station, the Union government said in a press statement.

Former presidents A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had undertaken sorties in Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon near Pune on June 8, 2006 and November 25, 2009, respectively.

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 two IAF Rafale squadrons are based in Ambala and Hashimara.

The Rafale jets were used in Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 to destroy several terror infrastructures in territories controlled by Pakistan. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.