Nirmala Sitharaman flies in Sukhoi-30 MKI jet, describes sortie as an 'eye-opening' experience
Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday undertook a sortie in the Indian Air Force (IAF) frontline combat jet, Sukhoi 30 MKI, from the Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan
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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday undertook a sortie in the Indian Air Force (IAF) frontline combat jet, Sukhoi 30 MKI, from the Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan. PTI
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The sortie was a part of the defence minister's continued efforts to gauge and review the operational preparedness and combat capabilities of the armed forces. PTI
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The defence minister wore a G-suit and sat behind the pilot during the flight. The sortie lasted 30 minutes. The jet has nuclear strike capability and power to penetrate deep into enemy territory. PTI
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Sitharaman described the sortie as an “eye-opening” experience. “The experience tells me with what rigour, practice, what level of readiness and how quickly they (defence personnel) have to respond to situations. It was eye-opening and memorable,” Sitharaman said. PTI
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Sukhoi Su-30 MKI is the advanced version of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30. It is a twin-jet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). PTI