President Droupadi Murmu takes Rafale sortie from Ambala air base

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday undertook a sortie from the Ambala Air Force Station in a Rafale fighter jet, describing the experience as “unforgettable”.

With this, she became the first President to have taken a sortie in two fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force. She took a similar sortie in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft from the Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam, in 2023.

Describing the sortie as an “unforgettable experience”, she said that it gives her a fresh sense of pride in the country's defence capabilities. During the sortie, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh also flew in a different aircraft from the same air base.

President Murmu was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour upon her arrival at the Air Force base.

The aircraft was flown by Group Captain Amit Gehani, Commanding Officer of the 17 Squadron, a statement issued by the President's office said. The sortie lasts for approximately 30 minutes, covering 200 kilometres at a height of 15,000 feet above sea level with a speed of about 700 kilometres per hour, it said.

The jets were part of the Indian Air Force air strikes to destroy key terror infrastructures in Pakistan, as part of Operation Sindoor on May 7.

President Murmu also posed with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, the country’s first woman Rafale pilot, just before she took to the skies. Earlier this year, a pro-Pakistan social media handle had falsely claimed that Singh was captured during Operation Sindoor, a rumour later debunked by the PIB Fact Check as fake.

The first five Rafale fighter jets, manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France, were inducted into the Indian Air Force’s 17th Squadron, dubbed the ‘Golden Arrows,’ in 2020.