IAF gears up for 77th Air Force Day with successful dress rehearsal

Hindon, (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 6 (ANI): Officers and air warriors of the Indian Air Force (IAF) took part in the full dress rehearsal on Tuesday ahead of the 77th Air Force Day celebrations, to be held on October 8.

The IAF was officially established on October 8, 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the Indian Empire and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during the World War II.

After India achieved independence from the British in 1947, the prefix Royal was dropped and replaced by the word Indian.

Tuesday's rehearsal was led by Group Captain S.K Vidhate and comprised 30 officers and 213 air warriors.

Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal P.K Barbora witnessed the rehearsal that was held under cloudy skies.

As the Air Force colour contingent entered the parade, three Mi-17 helicopters flew past in Vic formation trooping the Air Force Ensign at a height of 60 metres at a speed of 80 kilometres per hour.

This was followed by a Chakra formation comprising of three Mi-25 and Mi-35 fighter copters.

Fighter jets such as Mig 21,Mig 29, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, and Sukhoi 30 Mki also displayed their might during the full dress rehearsal.

The IAF also displayed the newly inducted Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) for the first time on Tuesday.

A spectacular rifle drill by air warriors was also displayed during the dress rehearsal.he 28-member rifle drill team's performance with a motto Drill to Thrill was a treat to the eyes.

The air show was also included a performance by Suryakiran aircrafts and aerobatics by Sarang team.

The Suryakiran squadron is primarily composed of indigenous HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 military trainer aircrafts.

The grand finale was marked by aerobatics by Sarang Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) team.

The entire air performance was operated and controlled by five different air bases in the Western Air Command.

The full dress rehearsal had to drop some of the air displays due to the bad weather at their respective launch bases. By Shreeraj Gudi (ANI)