Commanding Officer of first Rafale squadron transferred
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Last Updated: Mar 12, 2021, 04:44 PM IST
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The sources said Group Captain Harkirat Singh is likely to oversee the raising of the second Rafale squadron in his new posting at the Eastern Air Command.
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The Commanding Officer of the first Rafale fighter squadron based in Ambala air force station in Haryana has been transferred to the headquarters of the Eastern Air Command in Shillong, official sources said on Thursday.
Group Captain Harkirat Singh is set to be succeeded by Group Captain Rohit Kataria as the commanding officer of the squadron, known as 17 Golden Arrows.
The 101 `Falcons’ Squadronat Hasimara airbase is slated to get the second lot of 18 Rafales under the Rs 59,000 crore deal inked with France for 36 of the omni-role jets in September 2016, as was reported earlier by TOI.
Group Captain Singh, incidentally, was conferred the nation’s third-highest peacetime gallantry medal, the Shaurya Chakra, for displaying exceptional courage in landing a MiG-21 ‘Bison’ despite the critical emergency of “an engine flameout” during a practice interception sortie in September 2008. Group Captain Singh had led the “main” Rafale induction team of pilots, flight engineers and technicians in France. Group Captains Singh and Kataria were also among the pilots who had flown the first five Rafales to Ambala in July last year. The Rafales were formally inducted into the IAF at a ceremony in Ambala the following September.
Group Captain Harkirat Singh is set to be succeeded by Group Captain Rohit Kataria as the commanding officer of the squadron, known as 17 Golden Arrows.
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