The Kartavya Path grew to become a spectacle to witness with Republic Day celebrations going down in full fervour on Friday. The celebrations weren’t simply restricted to land however prolonged to the sky as nicely when 54 plane gave a fly-past in a grand salute.
Captivating the spectators, the contingent flew previous with a booming sound and went on to carry out a number of midair acrobatics. The pilots started with the ‘Prachand’ formation comprising one LCH in lead with two Apache Helicopters and Two ALH Mk-IV in echelon flying in 5 plane ‘Arrow Formation.’ It was adopted by the ‘Tangail’ formation comprising one Dakota in lead with two Dornier aircrafts in the echelon flying in ‘Vic’ formation.
The ‘Arjan’ formation comprised one C-295 plane in lead with two C-130J aircrafts in echelon flying in ‘Vic’ formation. The ‘Netra’ formation comprised one AEW&C plane and two X Su-30 plane in echelon flying in ‘Vic’ formation.
The ‘Varuna’ formation comprised one p-8i plane and two X Su-30 aircrafts in echelon flying in ‘vic’ formation. A C-17 plane with two Su-30 ac in echelon (streaming gasoline) flying previous in ‘Vic’ formation displayed the ‘Bheem’ formation.
The efficiency was adopted by 4 X Tejas aircrafts flying previous in ‘Diamond’ formation. The ‘Vajraang’ formation consisted of six Rafale aircrafts flying in ‘Marut’ formation. Next was the Amrit formation of six Jaguar aircrafts flying previous over the water channel north of Kartvya Path in ‘Arrow-head’ formation.
The final leg of the flypast exhilarated viewers as three Su-30 Mk-I aircrafts in ‘Trishul’ formation flew at 900 kmph over water channel north of Kartavya Path together with the IAF Marching Contingent. Approaching the dais, the formation pulled up outwards for Trishul manoeuvre.
Next was, one Rafale plane flying at 900 kmph behind Trishul formation over the north water channel. Approaching the dais, the plane pulled up for Vertical Charlie and carried out a number of turns.
Earlier, the band and marching contingent of France was accompanied overhead by two Rafale fighter jets and one Airbus A330 Multi Role Transport Tanker (MRTT) flying in triangle formation. The two Rafale come from the 104 “Al Dhafra” air base, situated in the UAE.
Their unit traces its origin again to World War I and II, and was the primary unit to get the Rafale in early 2006, as a substitute for the Jaguar. The Rafale had been adopted by ‘Phoenix’ MRTT, able to refuelling two fighters concurrently or a single surveillance plane. It carries as much as 110 ton of gasoline.
(With inputs from PTI)
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