New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to fly in a Rafale fighter jet from the Ambala Air Force base in Haryana on Wednesday. Rafale jets were deployed during Operation Sindoor, initiated by India in response to the heinous Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Previous presidents A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil have also flown in fighter jets, taking sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon, on June 8, 2006, and November 25, 2009, respectively.
On April 8, 2023, Murmu, who serves as the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces, became the third president and second female head of state to fly in a Sukhoi-30 MKI at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam. The Rafale fighter jets, produced by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation, were officially inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Ambala Air Force Station. The first five Rafale aircraft, which arrived from France on July 27, 2020, were incorporated into the 17 Squadron, known as the ‘Golden Arrows’.