Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the country’s second Defence Minister after the later Mrs. Indira Gandhi, flew by the supersonic Sukhoi-30 Jet of the Indian Air Force from Jodhpur air-base on a 45-minute long sortie. Later, the Minister described her experience as ‘eye-opening and memorable’.

The 2-seater Jet, which can gain a maximum speed of 2,100 km/hour (which is four times than that of a commercial aircraft), which took off from the Jodhpur air-base was piloted by Group Captain Samit Garg. The Minister arrived at the Airport and got into a G-Suit meant especially for Jet rides, interacted with defence personnel, posed for photographs before waving to newsmen and getting into the fighter Jet plane.

Nirmala thus becomes the third leader in the country to fly by Sukhoi after former Presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil. The Jet was made indigenously by HAL. It may be recalled that the Minister has been inspecting the preparedness of the Army, Navy and the Air Force from time to time.  She was recently on board the ‘INS Vikramaditya’ where she inspection the communication and fighting capabilities.

The Minister wore the G-Suit (also known as ‘anti-gravity suit’) for negotiating the flight’s tight turns and an oxygen mask. Defence Ministry sources said that such ‘on-the-field’ inspections would continue to be a regular feature in the days to come.