JOIN USKashmiri Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather becomes first Indian pilot to fly Rafale
As the nation is eagerly waiting for the arrival of the first batch of five Rafale jets from France, in Kashmir the name of Air commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather has suddenly caught everyone's attention.
Born in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, Rather was admitted to Class 6 at Sainik School Nagrota, near Jammu, in 1978. Rather was commissioned in IAF as a flight pilot on December 17, 1988, months after Pakistan’s military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq died in an air crash. It was the time of the height of alienation and the beginning of the insurgency in Kashmir.
He was promoted as Flight Lieutenant on December 17, 1993, as a Wing Commander on December 16, 2004, as a Group Captain on May 1, 2010 and as Air Commodore on December 26, 2016. He is presently India’s Air Attache to France and he has weaponized the Rafale fighter jets in France, as per conditions suitable for India.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) officer received the Vayu Sena Medal, given for devotion to duty, when he was a Wing Commander and Vishisht Seva Medal when he was a Group Captain.
According to his neighbours, Rather barely visited his home after the outbreak of militancy in 1990. “Even before 1990, he was seldom seen here. He stuck to his studies and training,” one of his family friends told DH.
Also read — All you need to know about Rafale fighter jets
He said Rather visited his home only twice, when his father and mother passed away, in the last five years. “We have never seen him at any social or family gathering”, he added.
Rather’s two brothers are working as government teachers in Anantnag. He also has three sisters. None in the family members was ready to speak to the media as camera crews gathered to record their impressions when Anantnag was trending on Twitter for the Kashmiri IAF pilot’s prestigious association with the Rafale project.
The IAF chief has completed more than 3,000 hours of accident-free flying on MiG 21s, Mirage-2000, and Kiran aircraft. He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a qualified Flying Instructor. A devout Muslim, he used to fly fighter jets during his fasting in the Holy month of Ramazan.
India had signed a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore with France in September 2016 for 36 Rafale jets to meet the emergency requirements of the IAF. The first squadron of the Rafale jets will be stationed in Ambala airbase.