Relevance: Prelims: Defence: Current Affairs
The Indian Air Force (IAF) resurrected the Air Force Station Ambala-based 17 Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’, which will operate the first squadron of Rafale fighter jets in the near future. The resurrection ceremony was presided over by IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa.
Background:
• The squadron was formed at Ambala in 1951 under the command of Flight Lieutenant D L Springett and was then equipped with Harvard-II B aircraft.
• The Squadron converted to the Mig-21 M in 1975.
• In 1988, the Squadron was presented colours by then President of India R Venkataraman.
• Under the command of then Wing Commander BS Dhanoa, Golden Arrows participated actively in Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil conflict in 1999.
• The squadron was disbanded in 2016, but now has been resurrected.
Way ahead:
• In the near future, 17 Squadron will be the first Squadron to be equipped with the State of the art Rafale aircraft, which is an extremely capable, fourth generation, multirole aircraft with advanced weapons.
• The first batch of Rafale jets are scheduled to be formally handed over to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 8 in France. The jets are set to arrive in India in May 2020.