President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday took a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet from the Indian Air Force Station in Ambala, Haryana, marking another historic milestone in her tenure as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh also flew in a separate aircraft from the same airbase. Before boarding the jet, President Murmu donned a G-suit and a flight helmet. She was seen holding her helmet, wearing sunglasses, and posing for photographs alongside the pilot.
At 11:27 am, moments before the Rafale jet took off, the President waved from inside the cockpit. Earlier in the morning, she was given a ceremonial guard of honour upon her arrival at the Air Force Station.
This is not the first time President Murmu has taken to the skies in a fighter jet. In April 2023, she flew a Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft from Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam. She joins former Presidents A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil, who also undertook sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets in 2006 and 2009, respectively.
The Rafale fighter aircraft, built by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation, were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Ambala Air Force Station.
Recently, the Rafale jets were used in Operation Sindoor, India’s strategic military response launched on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled territories following the Pahalgam terror attack. The operation resulted in four days of intense clashes, concluding on May 10 after both sides agreed to halt military action.
