Staff Reporter / chandigarh
The Indian Air Force (IAF) today (Oct 08) celebrated its 90th anniversary in Chandigarh. On the occasion, a ceremonial parade was held at the air force station. Nearly 80 military aircraft and helicopters have participated in the Air Force Day fly-past at the Sukhna Lake complex.
This is the first time that the annual parade and fly-past are being held outside Delhi-NCR. The move was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives to take major events and festivities out of the national capital region to different parts of the country. President of India, Smt Draupadi Murmu attended the Air Force Day flypast at Sukhna Lake as a Chief Guest. She was accompanied by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, Punjab Governor and Administrator of UT Chandigarh Banwari Lal Purohit, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatrey, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, senior IAF officers, and others.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari inspected the parade which was followed by the march past by parade. Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, senior officers from the three services, and Ministry of Defence, veterans, were among those present on the occasion. Ensign formation performed by 3 Mi-17V5 choppers led by Wing Commander Vishal Jain did a fly past when the IAF chief arrived. Three ALH Mk IVs also performed a fly past in Rudra formation.
The IAF put up a dazzling air show with a range of aircraft to celebrate its 90th anniversary. This time around 75 aircraft and helicopters participated in the flypast. The flypast commenced with an Aakash Ganga team of paratroopers in AN-32 aircraft. “Prachand” the recently inducted indigenously built Light Combat Helicopter(LCH) showcased its aerial prowess in a three-craft formation. Among other helicopters, Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv, Chinook, Apache, and Mi 17 were part of the flypast. Chinook choppers performed Bhim formation. The daredevils of IAF, Rafale, Tejas, Jaguar, and Mirage 2000 performed ‘Sekhon formation’ dedicated to Paramvir Chakra recipient IAF officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon.
Sukhoi, MIG -29 and Hawk, C-103, vintage Dakota, and other aircraft performed various formations More than 35000 spectators had booked tickets for the air show.
Earlier in the morning celebrations began in Chandigarh with a band march and parade. On the occasion, the Chief of Indian Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary said that they have inherited the proud legacy curated by sheer hard work, perseverance, and vision of their predecessors, right to acknowledge the contribution of their veterans who chartered this course.
On the occasion, the Government has approved the creation of a new Weapon Systems branch in the Indian Air Force. The Chief of Air Staff said, the branch will enhance the war-fighting capability of the Force.
The IAF Chief of Air Staff also unveiled the new combat uniform for air force personnel on Saturday. The new combat uniform is believed to borrow features that were unveiled earlier this year by the Army. This news uniform’s versatility also means it can be worn in different terrains – from the mountainous terrain of Kashmir to the vast coast of the peninsula. From the jungles of the northeast to the deserts of Rajasthan. With this, all three arms of the Indian military have upgraded to disruptive digital patterns for camouflage uniforms.
