Several retired air chiefs along with a former Army chief are expected to attend the parade on October 8. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday held a full dress rehearsal for Air Force Day Parade and fly past, which will be observed on October 8.
Several retired air chiefs along with a former Army chief are expected to attend the parade on October 8.
On Thursday, the full dress rehearsal was held in the presence of the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command, Air Marshal S Prabhakaran, who was the reviewing officer. The parade comprised marching contingents, flypast by Mi-17 and Rudra helicopters, performance by a rifle display team and dismantling and assembly of a Maruti Gypsy in record time by a team of air force personnel.
Later, addressing the personnel participating in the parade, the Air Marshal reminded them that they had been chosen from the entire air force and therefore they had to put their best foot forward on the day of the actual event.
He complimented them on their standards of drill and turn out.
A new camouflage uniform of the IAF will also be unveiled on Air Force Day, with a simulated unveiling being done at the parade on Thursday. The actual uniform was not, however, publicly displayed.
On Thursday afternoon, a flypast of various aircraft and aerobatics display by the Suryakiran and Sarang teams was put up at the Sukhna Lake, which was highly appreciated by the crowd which had gathered at the occasion.
The aircraft which took part in the fly past included the vintage Dakota, Light Combat Helicopters, Chinook Medium Lift helicopters, Apache helicopters, Dhruv helicopters, MI-17s, Rafales, Sukhoi-30 MKIs, Jaguars, Mirages, Tejas Light Combat aircraft, Embraer AWACS aircraft, C-17 transport aircraft, C-130J and An-32 aircraft.