The enthralling fly-past this year at Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path will see a total of 51 aircraft comprising 29 fighter jets and eight transport aircraft of IAF including newly inducted C-295, 13 helicopters and one heritage aircraft.
The fly-past includes four helicopters of the Army and one P-8i maritime patrol aircraft of the Navy which will fly in two separate formations.
A C-295 aircraft flanked by two C-130 aircraft in echelon, will fly as the Arjan formation during Republic Day fly past, IAF spokesperson Wing Commander said IAF Spokesperson Wing Commander Ashish Moghe said here on Friday.
The IAF inducted the first C-295 in September last year, which will replace the HS-748 Avro transport aircraft in service.
The IAF marching contingent of 144 personnel will be led by Squadron Leader Rashmi Thakur with Squadron Leader Sumita Yadav, Squadron Leader Pratiti Alhuwalia and Flight Lieutenant Kirti Rohil as supernumerary Officers. They will be marching to the tune ‘Sound Barrier’ played by 72 lAF musicians and three drum majors. The band will be led by Sergeant CA Daniel.
For the Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29 at Vijay Chowk, the IAF Band comprising of 121 musicians would be participating in the event. The band will be led by Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar.
In line with theme of the 75th Republic Day Parade-2024 “Samridh Bharat Sashakt Bharat”, the theme of the IAF tableau is “Bharatiya Vayu Sena: Saksham, Sashakt, Atmanirbhar” officials said. Flight Lieutenant Ananya Sharma and Flying Officer Asma Sheikh, both Su- 30 pilots, would be present on the tableau, they added.
As regards the tableau, they said the IAF has been at the forefront of rendering humanitarian aid, both within and across borders. In Operation Kaveri launched on April 24, 2023 to evacuate Indian nationals from strife-torn Sudan, the IAF’s C-130J aircraft were used extensively towards rescuing 3,862 Indians from the country, he noted.
The rear element of the tableau depicts one specific sortie of this mission during which an IAF C-130 extricated Indian nationals from Wadi Sayyidna in Sudan under extremely adverse conditions at night.
The middle section of the tableau depicts Tejas and SU-30 fighters flying over the Indian Ocean Region which depicts the ever-expanding reach of the lAF- over land, as well as over the sea, officials said.