Ambala: President Droupadi Murmu took to the skies on Wednesday with a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet from Ambala Air Force Station, showcasing her role as the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
The President, dressed in a G-suit and holding a helmet, posed for photographs alongside the pilot before the aircraft took off at 11:27 a.m. Sporting sunglasses, she waved from inside the jet prior to departure. Air Chief Marshal A P Singh also conducted a flight in a separate aircraft from the same base.
Droupadi Murmu was welcomed with a ceremonial guard of honour upon her arrival at the airbase earlier in the morning. The Rafale jets, built by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation, have been a key component of the Indian Air Force since their induction in September 2020, with the first five aircraft forming the 17 Squadron, ‘Golden Arrows’.
Rafales were prominently used in Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory mission launched on May 7 following the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22. The operation targeted multiple terror infrastructures in territories across the border, concluding with a ceasefire agreement on May 10 after four days of clashes.
President Murmu previously flew a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet at Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam, in April 2023. Past Indian Presidents, including APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil, had also undertaken fighter sorties, highlighting the ceremonial and operational significance of such flights in demonstrating India’s air power.
