President takes chopper ride near India-Pakistan border

Clad in an olive-green flying suit and helmet, President Droupadi Murmu on Friday took a 25-minute sortie as co-pilot in Light Combat Helicopter ‘Prachand’ near the India-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer district.

According to the Indian Air Force (IAF), the helicopter took off from the Jaisalmer Air Force Station after the president was briefed by the captain. She waved from the cockpit before departure.

During the flight, Murmu — the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces — delivered a message to the nation from the cockpit.

“Prachand helicopter is a powerful symbol of self-reliance. At this moment, I am flying over the Jaisalmer district. I extend my heartfelt greetings and deepest gratitude to our brave soldiers. A warm salute to you, Jai Hind, Jai Bharat,” she said. The helicopter flew over the Pokharan firing range, where the IAF is scheduled to conduct its firepower demonstration, ‘Vayu Shakti’, on Friday evening. Murmu will witness the day-dusk-night demonstration.

Earlier, IAF Chief Air Marshal AP Singh welcomed the president at the IAF station. With today’s sortie, Murmu became the first Indian president to fly in an attack helicopter, adding another milestone to her engagements with frontline military platforms.

She 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. LCH Prachand is India’s first indigenously designed and developed combat helicopter, built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. 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.