IAF to showcase Op Sindoor feats, platforms during 93rd Air Force Day celebrations

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 6 (ANI): The Indian Air Force (IAF) will celebrate its 93rd Air Force Day on October 8, where it will highlight the achievements of Operation Sindoor.

It will demonstrate the force’s operational strength, growing technological capabilities, and humanitarian role that it has played over the years.

The Full Dress Rehearsal (FDR) for the parade took place on Monday at Hindon Air Force Station, but rain caused disruptions, postponing the static aircraft display for the main event.

This year, the static display line-up also includes platforms that played a part in forcing Islamabad to retreat and seek a ceasefire after its Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) dialled his Indian counterpart.

The display will feature fighter jets such as the Rafale, Sukhoi Su-30MKI, and MiG-29, along with India’s indigenous Netra AEW&C, the C-17 Globemaster III, the indigenous Akash Surface-to-Air Missile System, the C-130J Hercules, Apache attack helicopters fitted with Longbow radar, and the Advanced Light Helicopter. An S-band Rohini radar will also be part of the display. 

The recently retired MiG-21 Bison will also be a part of the display as a tribute to its over six decades of service to the IAF.

Interestingly, the bison too played an active role in deterring PAF’s movement along the western air corridor during Operation Sindoor. “In the latest Operation Sindoor, it was deployed operationally,” IAF Spokesperson Wing Commander Jaideep Singh told ANI last month.

Certain highlights of the IAF’s participation in international exercises, such as Desert Knight, Red Flag Alaska, Udara Shakti in Malaysia, and Bright Star in Egypt, were also highlighted as examples of growing global military cooperation and the emergence of the Indian Air Force as a leading air power in the world.

The IAF also highlighted Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s historic mission as the first Indian pilot to board the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025, marking the IAF’s role in space exploration.

The IAF’s capabilities as “first responders” in humanitarian missions were also noted during the FDR, including flood relief and rescue operations from Uttarkashi to Punjab, as well as assistance following the earthquake in Myanmar. 

It was also recalled how the Air Force undertook several casualty evacuations, medical airlifts, and disaster response operations across the country and the globe.

This year’s parade will take place at Hindon Air Base, one of India’s largest and most strategic airbases. The Air Force Day parades were previously held in Chennai in 2024 and Prayagraj in 2023. 

Although the Air Force Day parade will be held in Hindon, the flypast is likely to take place in Guwahati in mid-November.

Meanwhile, on Friday, while addressing the annual press conference in New Delhi ahead of the Air Force’s 93rd Day celebration, Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal AP Singh detailed the IAF’s achievements during Operation Sindoor, saying the force destroyed 12 to 13 of Pakistan’s combat aircraft, including several F-16s and JF-17s, a C-130 strategic transport aircraft and two spy planes, both on the ground and in the air.

“As far as Pakistan's losses are concerned...we have struck a large number of their airfields and we struck a large number of installations...Because of these strikes, radars at least four places, command and control centres at two places, runways of course damaged at two places, then three of their hangars in three different stations have been damaged...we have signs of one C-130 class of aircraft...and at least 4 to 5 fighter aircraft, most likely F-16, because that place happened to be F-16 with whatever was under maintenance at that time,” the ACM said.

The Air Chief said, “Along with that, one SAM system has been destroyed...We have clear evidence of one long-range strike, which I talked about more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AEW&C or a SIGINT aircraft, along with that five high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class this is what our system tells us."

He also confirmed that the IAF’s LRSAM S-400 conducted a long-range strike of over 300 kilometres, destroying one of Pakistan’s AW&EC (airborne early warning aircraft).

“Our long-range SAMs that we had procured recently and operationalised... We could look deep inside their territory. We could make sure that they were not able to operate even within their territory up to a certain distance. It will go down in history as the longest kill that we achieved, of more than 300 kilometres. And it seriously curtailed their activities," the Air Chief said.

The CAS also lauded the S-400 Triumf ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ system as a “good weapon system”, adding that India is also moving forward in developing its own LRSAM. 

“We have our own system developing,” he said.

The Air Chief also took a jibe at Pakistan's unsubstantiated claims of shooting down IAF jets, saying, “If they think they shot down 15 of my jets, let them think about it. I hope they will cater for 15 fewer aircraft in my inventory when they come to fight again.”

Further, ACM Singh dismissed the claims as “Manohar Kahaniyan” (fanciful tales), saying Pakistan offered no evidence while India had shared clear proof of damage to its targets.

The Air Chief said India entered the May conflict, following provocation by the “barbaric” Pahalgam terror attack that resulted in the loss of lives of 26 innocent souls, with a clear goal and ended it quickly after achieving its objectives.

“It stands as a lesson in history that this was one war started with a clear objective and terminated in quick time without prolonging it,” the Air Chief said. (ANI)