Her predecessors only got their pictures clicked sitting in the cockpit of Sukhoi-30, Indian Air Force's frontline fighter jet. But she decided to experience the joy of flying at the speed of over 2000 km per hour. Nirmala Sitharaman, country's first full time defence minister on Wednesday donned the G-suit, a gear worn by aviators, to travel in the rear seat of the of Su-30 MKI from the Jodhpur air base, close to the Pakistan border of the IAF, and experienced a 45 minute sortie. Group Captain Sumit Garg of the 31 Squadron was pilot, who flew with the minister.
As per the available records of the air force, President APJ Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil and junior Home Minister Kiren Rijuju have flown Sukhoi 30 before Sitharaman. Former defence minister George Fernandes took a sortie in MiG 21, when the Russian made fighters were losing their safety credibility with repeated accidents and got the tag 'flying coffins'.
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni, who are honourary officers of the armed forces, too, have experienced the flying of Sukhoi fighter.
Sitharaman called her second encounter with a fighter jet in a month as an 'eye-opening and memorable' experience. Her first was on a MIG 29 on board the INS Vikramaditya, the country's biggest warship. However, in MiG 29, she Could only take a look at the cockpit.
"After her recent visit to INS Vikramaditya, the aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, on her visit to Air Force Station Jodhpur, took to the skies in the formidable Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft of 31 Squadron. In her 45 minutes of sortie, she was demonstrated some of the unique characteristics and strengths of this mighty twin engine Air Superiority Fighter (ASF)," IAF said in a statement.
Su-30 MKI forms an integral and the most potent component of air force's air power with its versatile capabilities. Recently, ‘BrahMos’ Supersonic Air Launched Cruise Missile and ‘Astra’ Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile, was integrated and successfully fired from this platform. With these advancements, the reach with air-to-air refueling and standoff performance, Su-30 MKI is a potent platform and is bolstering IAF’s strategic capabilities, according to an IAF official.
During her visit to the forward air base, Nirmala Sitharaman was briefed on the status of IAF's strategic capabilities.
IAF stated that today's flying sortie was part of her ongoing plan to gauge the operational capability and preparedness of defence forces by visiting military establishments.
