New Delhi: India’s three Rafale fighter jets will fly to France to take part in the Bastille Day flypast over the Champs Elysees in Paris on 14 July along with other French aircraft.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the Guest of Honour for this year’s National Day Parade in France. Modi’s visit marks the 25th anniversary of the “strategic partnership” between France and India.
Earlier, Anglo-French Jaguar fighter jets were supposed to join the parade – which were inducted in the Indian fleet in the 1980s.
India last took part in the parade in 2009 when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended it with an Indian military contingent.
Modi’s then French counterpart Francois Hollande was chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade in 2016.
What is Bastille Day?
Bastille Day, celebrated on 14 July, is the national day of France. The day commemorates the storming of the Bastille armoury, fortress and political prison on this day in 1789 – a watershed event in the French Revolution.
France celebrates the day with a traditional military parade on Champs Elysees – a historic avenue in Paris — cultural performances and nationwide fireworks.
What is Rafale?
India bought two squadrons of Rafale – the French twin-engine, multi-role fighter aircraft — in a government-to-government deal in 2016.
India has taken delivery of all 36 Rafale planes that were manufactured at the Dassault Aviation’s Bordeaux-Mérignac production facility.
The aircraft are stationed at the Air Force’s bases in Punjab’s Ambala and West Bengal’s Hasimara.
The Rafales are the IAF’s most potent 4.5 generation fighter aircraft. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is designed to carry out air dominance, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The jets are referred to as an “omnirole” combat aircraft.
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