This time there is not a single indigenous aircraft in the Republic Day flypast, what is the reason?

New Delhi: This time a total of 40 aircraft will take part in the flypast in the Republic Day Parade, but not a single one of them is indigenous. Neither the indigenous fighter jet Tejas nor the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv will be included in the flypast this time. This time there will not be separate tableaux of Army, Navy and Air Force in the parade. There will be a tri-service tableau consisting of all three services.

All ALH Grounded

According to the Indian Air Force, Tejas was not included in the flypast because it is a single engine aircraft. In 2017, the indigenous fighter jet Tejas was included in the Republic Day parade, which was the first time that Tejas did a flypast on Republic Day. ALH has been participating in the Republic Day flypast but this time all the ALHs are grounded, that is, their flying has been banned, hence ALH will also not participate in the flypast. All 300-plus ALHs have been grounded following the Coast Guard helicopter crash in Porbandar on January 5. This includes all those ALHs which are also with the Army, Navy and Air Force. ALH will remain grounded for now until the investigation is completed. This may take about two more weeks. How the Coast Guard helicopter crashed is being investigated. Whenever a helicopter crashes due to a technical fault, the entire helicopter fleet is grounded.

This time Agniveer also included in Air Force Band

The marching contingent of the Air Force in the Republic Day parade will include four officers and 144 airmen. There will be 72 musicians in the Air Force Band, which will also include 22 Agniveer for the first time. A total of 40 aircraft will be involved in the flypast, which will include 22 fighter aircraft, 11 transport aircraft, seven helicopters. They will fly from 10 different bases.

12 formations in flypast

Aircraft will fly in 12 different formations. Four Mi-17 IVs will fly in flag formation. One helicopter will go ahead waving the tricolor and three helicopters will wave the flags of Army, Navy and Air Force. The Baz formation will consist of three MiG-29 fighter jets. The Ajay formation will have three Apache helicopters and the Satluj formation will have one AN-32 and one Dornier. The Rakshak formation will include three Dorniers of the Coast Guard, the Arjun formation will include one C-130 and two C-295. C-295 will flypast for the first time on Republic Day. Netra formation will include 1 Embraer and two Sukhoi-30 fighter jets, Bhima formation will include one C-17 and two Sukhoi-30, Amrit formation will include 5 Jaguars, Trishul will include three Sukhoi-30 and Vajrang formation will include 6 Rafale fighter jets. At the end of the flypast, Vijay formation will be seen, in which a Rafale fighter jet will fly in vertical Charlie formation.