In historic moments for the Indian Air Force, the much awaited first batch of five Rafale combat jets on Wednesday landed at the Ambala airbase from France. The fleet landed at Al Dhafra airbase on Monday in the UAE after flying for over seven hours from the Merignac airbase. It was the only stopover by the jets while flying from France to India. The Rafales were escorted by two Sukhoi 30 MKIs after they entered the Indian air space and were greeted by the Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata. The jets were also refulled mid-air from a French tanker at a height of 30,000 feet. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria received the fleet at Ambala. The Rafale jets are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in over two decades.
Govt will partner with OTTs to make audience experience better: Javadekar
Confusing comment by minister, Sreedharan won't be BJP's CM candidate in Kerala?
Chhattisgarh police recruits 13 transgender people as constables
Battle for Bengal heats up: Mamata vs Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram likely
'Atoning for sins', former TMC leader squats on stage while joining the BJP
Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala: do not agree with term ‘love jihad’
Must prepare for military threat from China, Pakistan: CDS Rawat
Over 4,000 activists demand Chief Justice's resignation over rape comment
Ease of living: Bengaluru best city, Shimla No. 1 small city
'Screening needed, even porn shown': SC on OTT platforms
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Delhi CM Kejriwal get Covid jabs
Wildfire rages on in Odisha's Similipal Tiger Reserve for a week
Taj Mahal shut briefly after bomb threat call, tourists evacuated
Modi blitz in Bengal: PM to hold more than a dozen rallies
Uptick in India's daily Covid cases, 6 states push the numbers
US welcomes India's steps to restore normalcy in J&K
India downgraded from 'free' to 'partly free' in democracy report
VK Sasikala quits politics ahead of TN polls, urges AIDMK to stay united
India led the world in internet shutdowns in 2020: Report
West Bengal: EC tells petrol pumps to remove hoardings with PM's pic