Former President Pratibha Patil flew in the frontline fighter aircraft in 2009. President Droupadi Murmu today took her maiden fighter jet flight. She was seen wearing an anti-gravity suit before stepping into a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam, a strategic air base. The President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, flew for approximately 30 minutes covering Brahmaputra and Tezpur valley with a view of the Himalayas before returning to the Air Force Station. The aircraft was flown by Group Captain Naveen Kumar, Commanding Officer of the 106 Squadron. The aircraft flew at a height of about two kilometres above sea level and at a speed of about 800 kilometers per hour. President Murmu is the third President and second woman President to undertake such a sortie. In 2009, former president Pratibha Patil had flown in the frontline fighter aircraft. The President's sortie in the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft is a part of her efforts to engage with the armed forces, as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. In March 2023, the President visited INS Vikrant and interacted with officers and sailors on board of the indigenously built aircraft. The Sukhoi-30 MKI is a twin-seater multirole fighter jet developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
