Spectacular Flypast On Iaf Anniversary

The flypast was stopped in 1988 after a Mirage-2000 crashed following a bird hit. The IAF re-started the Indep-endence Day flypast this year.

Some 40 frontline aircraft including Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 featured in the flypast. The helicopter fleet of MI-17, MI-25 and MI-35 carried the IAF flag. The `Suryakiran aerobatics team in displayed breathtaking flying skills in their Kiran-II aircraft as part of the parade.

Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen said the IAF had no alternative but to go in for the next generation of defence technologies in view of the prevailing scenario in the neighbourhood. Addressing IAF officers and jawans at the Palam technical area, after inspecting an impressive parade on the occasion of the IAFs 64th anniversary, Sareen said the preservation of peace in the past 25 years had been possible only because the IAF had evolved into the worlds fourth largest air force and provided the nation credible deterrent value.