IN PHOTOS: Republic Day flypast rehearsal by the Indian Air Force

Ahe of 70th Republic Day celebrations on January 26, Republic accessed some photos from Flypast Reharsal by Indian Air Force.

flypast w comprises 33 aircraft of Indian Air Force and four helicopters of Indian Army’s aviation arm. aircraft s include 18 fighters, eight transport aircraft and 11 helicopters. flypast will be conducted in two phases. Leing pare would be ‘Ensign’ formation comprising four Mi-17 V5 helicopters in an inverted ‘Y’ formation also referred to as "Wineglass formation". y will fly past, trooping National flag and ensigns of three services.

y will be followed by ‘Dhruv’ formation comprising four vanced Light Helicopters of Army Aviation including two armed ALH- Rudra. second and main phase will commence after end of surface pare immediately after Dare Devil display. This will be led by ‘Rudra’ formation of three ALH Mk IV WSI helicopters of IAF in ‘vic’ formation, followed by three C-130J Super Hercules ac in ‘vic’ formation. reafter, a new formation of ‘Sutlej’, comprising of three An-32 ac with le aircraft using Biojet Fuel blend will be flown followed by mixed formation comprising a single AEW&C flanked by two Su-30s called ‘Netra’. reafter, ar mixed formation of C-17 Globemaster flanked by two Su-30s in vic formation called Globe formation will fly past dais. This will be followed by pure fighter formations.

first fighter formation is Jaguar formation consisting of five Jaguar aircraft in arrowhe formation. This is followed by five Mig-29 Upgre ac ia n similar formation, with call sign ‘Fulcrum’. Subsequently, ‘Sukhoi’ formation comprising three SU-30 MKI aircraft, will execute famous Trishul maeuvre. In this, le Su-30 would execute a vertical maeuver on reaching in front of dais while flanking ac would split outwards forming a Trident. end of pare will be marked by a single SU-30 MKI ac of IAF, carrying out signature ‘Vertical Charlie’ in front of dais. All aircraft will fly-in from Rashtrapati Bhawan side and exit towards India Gate at heights between 60 metres to 300 metres above ground level. 

India’s quest to seek alternate sources of fuel towards reducing its dependence on crude oil will w be showcased by next formation of An 32 aircraft flying in ‘vic’ formation. le aircraft of formation, piloted by Sqn Ldr Mehtab Sond of Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment, is flying utilizing Aviation Turbine Fuel blended with 10% BioFuel.

This BioFuel has been extracted from Jatropha plant seeds using a techlogy patented by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehrun. successful trials will le to significant reduction on India’s dependency on imported crude oil. IAF’s initiative is on line with Prime Minister’s vision to reduce crude oil imports and dependency to tune of 10% by 2021. or two ac are captained by Sqn Ldr Gautam Bajaj and Wg Cdr Arun Chandan.

This year, President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa will be attending Republic Day commemoration as Chief Guest. President Ramaphosa accepted invitation initiated by PM Modi on sidelines of G20 Bues Aires Summit in Argentina in 2018. 

( photos are credited to Wg CDR Indranil Nandi)