Indian Air Force Day 2020: All you need to know

The Indian Air Force (IAF) Day is celebrated every year on October 8 and on Thursday the IAF will proudly observe its 88th anniversary. On the occasion, a scintillating air display by various aircraft will be the hallmark of the Air Force Day Parade cum Investiture Ceremony at Air Force Station Hindan (Ghaziabad) near Delhi.

On the ocassion, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wished the air warriors and their families. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “I am confident that the IAF will always guard the nation’s skies, come what may. Here’s wishing you blue skies and happy landings always.”

IAF’s frontline warplanes like Rafale, Su-30MKI, Apache, Tejas, ‘Gajraj’ will showcase its lethal firepower. 56 aircraft, including 19 fighters and seven transport aircraft along with 19 helicopters, would be taking part in aerial display during this year’s Air Force Day Parade, according to a press release by the IAF.

The Rafale fighter aircraft would fly in the ‘Vijay’ formation along with the Jaguars and then in the ‘Transformer’ formation with the Sukhoi-30 MKI and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighter aircraft during the IAF Day parade this year.

Date and time of the event: The Indian Air Force Day will be celebrated on October 8 (Thursday) at the Hindon Base in Ghaziabad. The ceremony usually starts at 8 am and continues till 11 am.

Why Indian Air Force Day is celebrated on October 8? The IAF was founded on October 8, 1932, and the force has participated in several crucial wars and landmark missions. It was officially established as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India’s aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of Dominion of India. With the government’s transition to a Republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.