IAF contingent to participate in Dubai Air Show

An aircraft contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF), including its Sarang and Suryakiran aerobatics team, will participate in the Dubai Air Show that will be held from November 14 to November 18, a government official said on Wednesday.

The IAF has been invited by the UAE government to perform along with some of the best aerobatics and display teams in the world, including the Saudi Hawks, Russian Knights, and the UAE’s Al Fursan, they said.

Five Dhruvs, the advanced light helicopters (ALH) of the Sarang Team, 10 BAE Hawk 132 aircraft of the Suryakiran Team, and three LCA Tejas aircraft were inducted at the Dubai Air Show on November 9, the official said. The induction was supported by the IAF’s C-17 Globemaster IIIs and C-130J Super Hercules, they said. On arrival, the IAF contingent was received with a warm welcome by Major General Staff Pilot Ishaq Saleh Mohammed al-Balushi of the UAE Armed Forces and other officers of the UAE Air Force, they noted. The IAF teams are now preparing for the opening ceremony on November 14, they said.

While the Sarang Team has previously participated in the Al Ain Grand Prix in UAE in 2005, Suryakirans and the Tejas will be showing off their swashbuckling aerial maneuvers for the first time in the gulf nation, the official added.