The newly inducted Rafale fighter aircraft will feature in India’s Republic Day parade on January 26 for the first time. A total of 38 IAF aircraft and four planes of the Indian Army will participate in the flypast on January 26.
Rafale fighter aircraft will culminate the flypast by carrying out the ‘Vertical Charlie’ formation, said the Indian Air Force (IAF). In the ‘Vertical Charlie’ formation, the aircraft flies at low altitude, pulls up vertically and conducts rolls before stabilising at higher altitude.
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 28, 2020 and was inducted into the IAF on September 10. The Second batch of three Rafale jets took off from a French airbase and reached India on November 4, 2020. The IAF has a total of eight Rafale Fighter aircraft.
