Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to go on sortie in Sukhoi 30MKI

January 16, 2018 10:53

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will undertake a sortie in Indian Air Forces frontline Su-30MKI combat aircraft over Jodhpur on Wednesday, while reviewing the operational preparedness of the force.

The defence minister will undertake the sortie to gauge and review the operational preparedness and combat capabilities of the armed forces, an Air Force spokesperson said.

The defence minister was earlier scheduled to fly the Su-30MKI last month, but she could not go there due to her involvement in the BJP duty to elect the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh after the conclusion of assembly polls.

Sitharaman would be sitting in the rear-seat behind the main pilot in the twin-seat Russian-origin plane. The squadron getting the honour to fly the Defence minister is 31 Squadron Lions, which is based out of Jodhpur.

Recently, the defence minister had spent time on the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier where she was shown the combat capabilities of the MiG-29K naval fighters along with other carrier operations of the maritime force.

Soon after taking over as defence minister, Sitharaman had visited the Air Force base in Jamnagar where she was briefed about the capabilities of the MiG 21 fighter plane and also the overall operations undertaken by the service.

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