A ceremonial parade was performed on 8th October at the air force base in Chandigarh in honour of the Indian Air Force (IAF90th )’s anniversary. The parade was inspected by the Chief of Air Staff and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.
President Droupadi Murmu presided over the grand event, which was also attended by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, Punjab and Haryana governors Banwarilal Purohit and Bandaru Dattatreya, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, mayor Sarbjit Kaur, and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher.
The flypast featured a variety of aircraft in striking and distinctive formations, including the Rafale, Prachand, MiG-29, Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, Tejas, Chinook, Apache, Harvard, and Mi-17. The Akash Ganga paratroopers squad performed first, followed by a Mi-17 performing a Bambi Bucket maneuver and Chinook helicopters performing a variety of maneuvers. While certain formations were exhibited before the President’s arrival, most of them, including the crowd-pleasing aerobatics by the Suryakiran and Sarang teams, were done after.
The morning parade and the air show are the two separate components of the celebration schedule. On Saturday, the program starts at roughly 9:00 am with a 2-hour morning procession and a flyover. In the afternoon, as part of its 90th-anniversary festivities, the IAF will perform a spectacular performance with various aircraft during its air show.
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Vintage Aircraft Show
When the historic aircraft Harvard flew over the lake, the audience’s eyes were glued to the sky. After being restored in 2015, the 1989-decommissioned trainer aircraft joined the historic flight family. Since then, the aircraft has taken part in IAF Day flypasts in Chandigarh on Saturday and in Hindon in Delhi-National Capital Region.
The Dakota aircraft, renowned for having made a significant contribution to IAF history, was also flown over the lake as part of a flypast. The aircraft had transported troops to Kashmir during the infamous Budgam landings in October 1947, and it was also utilised during the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
The newly introduced indigenous Prachand light combat helicopter, which flew in a three-aircraft configuration, also captured the attention of the spectators. Rajnath Singh, the Union defence minister, and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, the chief of the air staff, were present as the IAF inducted it on Monday during a ceremony in Jodhpur.
In honour of the IAF’s 90th anniversary, Chief of Air Staff V R Chaudhari announced that establishing a weapon system branch for IAF officers has received approval from the federal government.
According to the Chief Air Staff VR Chaudhari, the new branch will primarily staff the specialised streams of operators for remotely piloted aircraft, surface-to-surface missiles, and surface-to-air missiles.
According to the IAF head, establishing this branch will save more than Rs 3,400 crore because less money would be spent on pilot training.
On Saturday morning, Chaudhari saw a ceremonial march that was taking place at the air force base in Chandigarh to commemorate the IAF anniversary. Afterwards, there was a march-past. When the IAF head arrived, three Mi-17V5 in ensign formation flew past.
