Rafale, MiG29K & P-81 among 75 aircraft to flypast Rajpath on Republic Day

New Delhi, Jan 17: India is set to witness the grandest flypast ever to take place over Rajpath during the Republic Day parade with 75 aircraft including the planes from IAF, Army, and the Navy. This is in line with the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav celebrations.

"Five Rafale to fly over the Rajpath in the Vinaash formation. Navy's MiG29K and P-8I surveillance aircraft will fly in the Varuna formation. 17 Jaguar fighter aircraft will fly in the shape of 75 to celebrate Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav," said IAF PRO Wing Commander Indranil Nandi.

"The flypast will include Tangail formation which will have one Dakota and two Dornier flying in Vic formation. This is tribute to the Tangail air drop operations of the 1971 War. There will also be Meghna formation of 1 Chinook and four Mi-17s," he said.

The flypast will begin with "Dhwaj" formation with four Mi-17 aircraft, followed by "Rudra" and "Rahat" formations with 4 and 5 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH), respectively.

In the second phase, there will be 13 formations with different aircraft used by the three forces. The final formation 'Amrit' will consist of 17 Jaguar fighter jets commemorating 75 years of Independence.

"Indian Air Force's (IAF) tableau will display the theme of Indian Airforce transforming for the future. It will showcase scaled-down model of MIG 21, GNAT, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Aslesha radar, and the Rafale aircraft," said Wing Commander Vikas Shrotriya, IAF.