India Air Force Day 2019 Live Updates: Air Force Celebrates 87th IAF Day, Grand Flypast On Display

• Cricket legend and honorary Group Captain Sachin Tendulkar attended the Indian Air Force (IAF) Day celebrations at Hindon Air Force Station.
• He attended the event with his wife Anjali Tendulkar and was greeted by the Air Force officers.

• Indian Air Force officers who participated in Balakot airstrike, fly 3 Mirage 2000 aircraft and 2 Su-30MKI fighter aircraft in 'Avenger formation', at Hindon Air Base during the event on Air Force Day. 

#WATCH Ghaziabad: Three Chinook transport helicopters fly in 'Chinook formation' at Hindon Air Base during the event on #AirForceDay today. pic.twitter.com/06rSyjvWv7

- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 8, 2019

• The India Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 87th birth anniversary today with a grand event at Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad. 
• The day is significant for another reason - Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will take delivery of India's newest multirole fighter jet Rafale in France today. 
• He will also be taken for a spin in the advanced jet made by France's Dassault Aviation at the handover ceremony in Merignac in France. 
• At Hindon, several IAF transport planes, helicopters and fighter jets will participate in a flypast with Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria in attendance. 
• "Greetings to all @IAF_MCC personnel and their families on the 87th IAF Day. The IAF is the shining example of exemplary courage, fortitude, determination and impeccable service to our nation. These men and women in Blue have the ability to touch the sky with grit and glory," the Defence Minister tweeted this morning.
• The air display will start with flag-bearing sky divers of the Akash Ganga team dropping out of an AN-32 aircraft in their colourful canopies.
• The IAF will showcase its Chinook heavy-lift twin-rotor transport helicopter and the Apache attack helicopters for the first. Both these helicopters were acquired from the US and inducted into the IAF in the last few months.
• The flypast will include several helicopters and planes, starting with the Chinook and the Apache, and ending with a spectacular manoeuvre by the Russian-origin multirole fighter jet Sukhoi-30MKI.
• A flypast of vintage planes including the Dakota that had served the IAF for over 40 years will be carried out over Hindon. The Dakota DC-3 aircraft of the 1940s was used till 1988. It was one of the most versatile transport aircraft of its time.
• The Indian Air Force was set up on October 8, 1932. When it was formed, it had a strength of only six Royal Air Force-trained officers and 19 Havai Sepoys (air soldiers). The aircraft inventory comprised four Westland Wapiti IIA army co-operation biplanes, according to the IAF on its website.
• Rajnath Singh will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris today as he takes delivery of the first of the 36 Rafale aircraft that India bought from France. He will perform a "Shastra Puja" on Dussehra, which falls today.
• "Delighted to be in France. This great nation is India's important strategic partner and our special relationship goes far beyond the realm of formal ties. My visit to France is aimed at expanding the existing strategic partnership between both the countries," Mr Singh tweeted after he arrived in Paris on Monday.
• While the formal handover ceremony takes place today, the first batch of four Rafale jets will fly to their home base in India by May 2020.
• The Rafale entered service with the French Navy in 2004. The Rafale jets intended for India are expected to come with certain modifications for the IAF and have been awaited as a crucial enhancement to India's Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft fleet.
• The handover ceremony will be followed by the annual Indo-French Defence Dialogue between Mr Singh and French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly in Paris on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the Defence Minister is scheduled to address CEOs representing French defence firms.

• Chiefs of three services, Army Chief Bipin Rawat, Indian Air Force Chief, RKS Bhadauria and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Karambir Singh, pay tributes at National War Memorial in Delhi on the occasion of Indian Force Day.
• Indian Air Force in a tweet greeted the air-warriors and their families on the occasion of 87th Air Force Day.
• IAF in a tweet said, " #AFDay19: On the occasion of 87th Anniversary, Indian Air Force extends its heartfelt greetings to the courageous air-warriors & their families. The Courage, Valour, Commitment, Dedication & Zeal are inspiration for all."
• On October 6, IAF had tweeted, "#AFDay19 : As the Indian Air Force prepares to celebrate the 87th anniversary of its birth, the Air-warriors of IAF are getting ready for the ceremonial parade as part of celebrations at Air Force Station Hindan. Come & witness the grand Parade. Two days to GO!!!"

• Today is a big day for the Indian Air Force. It's the IAF's 87th birth anniversary, and India will induct its newest multirole fighter jet Rafale into the Air Force at a handover ceremony in Merignac in France. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is in France, will take delivery of the first Rafale made by French firm Dassault Aviation.
• As part of its 87th birth anniversary celebrations on Air Force Day, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria will attend a grand flypast by the IAF's transport planes, helicopters and fighter jets at Hindon Air Force Station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, near Delhi.
• The IAF will showcase its Chinook transport and Apache attack helicopters for the first time since they were acquired from the US in the last few months.
• A Russian-origin Sukhoi-30MKI will perform a spectacular manoeuvre at the end of the flypast.
• Here are some of the aircraft taking part in the flypast: Chinook helicopter, Apache attack helicopter, Hercules transport aircraft, C-17 Globemaster III, Jaguar, MiG-21 Bison, MiG-29, Mirage 2000, Sukhoi-30MKI, LCA Tejas,