New Delhi: This year’s Republic Day parade in the national capital’s newly relaid and renovated Rajpath will witness the largest flypast with the participation of 75 aircraft to mark the Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav celebrations.
The flypast will come to a grand finale with seven Jaguar fighter aircraft flying in “Amrit’’ formation to commemorate 75 years of the country’s independence.
“The flypast this year will be the grandest and largest with 75 aircraft from IAF, Army and Navy flying during the Republic Day parade. This is in line with the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav celebrations,” according to Indian Air Force (IAF) PRO Wing Commander Indranil Nandi.
“The flypast will include Tangail formation which will have one Dakota and two Dornier flying in Vic formation. This is a tribute to the Tangail airdrop operations of the 1971 War. There will also be Meghna formation of one Chinook and four Mi-17s,” he said.
The flypast will begin with the ‘Dhwaj’ formation with four Mi-17 aircraft, followed by ‘Rudra’ and ‘Rahat’ formations with four and five Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH), respectively.
Among the other aircraft that will display their might at the parade are newly acquired Rafale, Indian Navy’s MiG29K, P-8I surveillance aircraft and Jaguar fighter jets.
In view of the COVID-19 situation in the Capital, approximately 24,000 people will be allowed to attend the Republic Day parade at Rajpath on January 26 this year.
Before the Corona pandemic in 2020, around 1.25 lakh people were permitted to attend the parade. At the last year’s Republic Day parade, amid the shadow of the pandemic, around 25,000 people were allowed to attend it.