President to fly sortie in Rafale fighter jet today

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu will take a sortie in Rafale fighter jet from Ambala Air Force base in Haryana on Wednesday. Rafale jets were used during Operation Sindoor, launched by India in response to the April 22 dastardly Pahalgam terror attack. Former presidents A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had undertaken sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon near Pune on June 8, 2006, and November 25, 2009, respectively.

On April 8, 2023, Murmu, the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces, became the third President and second woman head of the state to take a sortie in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam. 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 first five Rafale aircraft, which had arrived from France on July 27, 2020, were inducted in 17 Squadron, the 'Golden Arrows'.