Jaisalmer, Feb 26 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu will undertake a sortie in the indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) ‘Prachand’ at the Jaisalmer Air Force Station on Friday morning as part of her visit to Rajasthan.
Murmu will arrive in Jaisalmer on Thursday evening, where Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma will receive her.
On Friday, the president — the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces — is scheduled to fly in the LCH Prachand before attending other engagements later in the day, defence sources said.
The LCH Prachand is India’s first indigenously designed and developed combat helicopter, built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Designed to operate in diverse terrains — from deserts to high-altitude regions — the helicopter is capable of operating at altitudes exceeding 5,000 metres, making it well-suited for deployment along mountainous borders.
Equipped with advanced avionics, stealth features, night-attack capability and a formidable array of weapons including air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, rockets and a 20 mm gun, the LCH significantly enhances the combat capability of the Indian Air Force.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had undertaken a sortie in the Prachand, which translates to fierce, during the formal induction of the first LCH into the IAF at the Jodhpur Air Force Station in October 2022.
In the evening, the president will attend the IAF’s mega firepower demonstration ‘Vayu Shakti’ at the Pokhran Field Firing Range near the India-Pakistan border.
The event follows a full dress rehearsal held on February 24, which showcased coordinated day-to-dusk-to-night operations in a near-realistic combat scenario.
During the rehearsal, frontline fighter jets, transport aircraft and helicopters carried out simulated strikes on designated targets. Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft targeted enemy runways and positions, MiG-29 jets struck a simulated convoy of tanks, and the Akash missile system engaged aerial targets.
A C-130 aircraft conducted a night landing, while a C-295 transport aircraft carried out landing operations. Prachand and Apache helicopters, as well as Jaguar aircraft, also participated.
Friday’s sortie in the LCH will add to a series of high-profile engagements by the president with frontline military platforms.
Murmu undertook a sortie in a Rafale fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station in Ambala in October last year, becoming the first Indian president to have flown in two different fighter aircraft of the IAF.
In April 2023, she undertook a sortie in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam, flying for about 30 minutes over the Brahmaputra and Tezpur valley with a view of the Himalayas. PTI SDA RHL
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