Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman undertakes a sortie on IAF Fighter Jet

NewsBharati    17-Jan-2018
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Jodhpur, January 17: Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman undertook a sortie on a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet. The first female Defense Minister of India is the second Indian woman leader to take such journey. To understand various defense operations from a close distance, she has spent a lot of time travelling to Army, Air Force and Navy bases.

From Jodhpur airbase, the leader took off in Indian Air Force’s frontline fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30 MKI on Wednesday. She strapped herself into a G-suit and took the rear seat behind pilot’s seat.

“Very proud and thankful that I’ve gone through this experience because it actually tells me with what rigor, practice, what level of readiness and how quickly they (defence personnel) have to respond to situations. It was eye-opening and memorable,” said Sitharaman after the sortie.

This move was taken to take stock of the operational preparedness and combat capabilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF). She was also onboard in the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in the Arabian Sea to witness the operations of the MiG-29 fighter off the deck of the ship and other Naval exercises.

IAF Fighter Jet Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Sukhoi 30