President Droupadi Murmu took a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet from Ambala Air Force Base in Haryana on Wednesday. Rafale jets were used during Operation Sindoor, launched by India in response to the April 22 dastardly Pahalgam terror attack.
Former presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had undertaken sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon near Pune on June 8, 2006, and November 25, 2009, respectively.
#WATCH | Haryana: President Droupadi Murmu takes off in a Rafale aircraft from the Ambala Air Force Station pic.twitter.com/XP0gy8cYRH
— ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2025
Murmu’s Sortie In Sukhoi-30 MKI Fighter Aircraft
On April 8, 2023, Murmu, the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces, became the third President and second woman head of state to take a sortie in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam.
“The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, will visit Ambala, Haryana tomorrow, where she will take a sortie in Rafale,” a statement issued on Tuesday by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, Rafale fighter aircraft were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Air Force Station, Ambala.
The first five Rafale aircraft, which had arrived from France on July 27, 2020, were inducted into 17 Squadron, the ‘Golden Arrows’.
The Rafale jets were used in Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 to destroy several terror infrastructures in territories controlled by Pakistan. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
