IAF Deputy Chief Air Marshal flies Rafale jet in France as India squabbles

Indian Air Force Deputy Chief Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar flies Rafale jet in France on Thursday as India squabbles in political slugfest.

According to the report in defence website LiveFistDefence, the IAF Deputy Chief completed a front-seat sortie in a Rafale at the Istres air base in France. Different for the first Rafale for India, Raghunath Nambiar flew a Dassault-owned Rafale testbed sporting the India-specific software and system enhancements.

Amidst political storm, IAF deputy chief Air Marshal ‘Nambi’ Nambiar to front-seat fly a Rafale tomorrow in France. Nambi well known as being among first test pilots on the LCA Tejas program & flying precision strikes on Tiger Hill during the 1999 Kargil conflict. pic.twitter.com/26x0pJGA0T

— Livefist (@livefist) September 19, 2018

Raghunath Nambiar, also known as Nambi is well known for being among first test pilots on the LCA Tejas programme and flying precision strikes on Tiger Hill during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

Three Rafale jets had landed at the Maharajpur air base in Gwalior, earlier this month. In the multilateral air training exercise that concluded recently in Australia, the French pilots had made a layover while returning from Exercise Pitch Black 2018. the IAF pilots had got a first-hand experience of the Rafale jet when an Indian pilot was on-board the fighter aircraft, during the exercise in Australia.

The deal IAF has recently been defending the Rafale jet, amidst allegations from Congress and other opposition parties

Commenting on the matter, Raghunath Nambiar had recently said that Rafale is being discussed for the wrong reasons and once it is inducted into the IAF, it would ‘revolutionise airpower in the sub-continent’. He had also said in a statement, “The Rafale gives us full spectrum capabilities to a large extent and would revolutionise airpower in our sub-continent having capabilities which do not exist.”

On a binge to justify the procurement of the French jets, Air Chief Marshal and Chief of the Air Staff, Birender Singh Dhanoa, had also said that IAF needs to strengthen its fleet to match the neighbours who have been modernising their military at a rapid pace.

According to Air Force Vice Chief Air Marshal SB Deo, IAF is waiting for the aircraft while adding that the allegations are being made about the deal by people who do not know the facts. He further added, “We’re waiting for the aircraft. Rafale is a beautiful and capable aircraft. I shouldn’t comment but I can tell you all this discussion and all these things going on in Rafale because we know a lot about how everything went, we find that, people don’t have the information.”

Also read: No point engaging the opposition on the Rafale deal: Nirmala Sitharaman