India-France Rafale Planes Conduct Massive Air Exercise

Officials said on Tuesday that Rafale jets from India and France have been practicing together in the air as part of a multinational air practice at the French airbase of Mont-de-Marsan. They said that Shivangi Singh is part of the Indian team that is taking part in Exercise Orion. She is the first woman to fly a Rafale for the Indian Air Force.

Squadron Leader Avani Chaturvedi made history in January when she became the first IAF woman fighter pilot to take part in a war game in the air outside of India.

Chaturvedi, a Su-30MKI pilot, was part of the IAF group that took part in the 16-day mega air combat drill with the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) from January 12 to January 26 at the Japanese airbase of Hyakuri.

India sent four Rafale jets, two C-17 planes, and two IL-78 mid-air refuelers to France for the multinational drill that started on April 17 and lasted for three weeks.

It was the first time Rafale jets from the Indian Air Force went on a practice outside of India.

Besides the IAF and the French Air and Space Force (FASF), air forces from Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and other countries are also taking part in the exercise.