Captain Harkirat Singh-Shaurya Chakra and Commanding Officer of Rafale’s Elite 17 Squadron

Captain Harkirat Singh- Commanding Officer of Rafale fighter jet

It took the then Wing Commander Harkirat Singh barely eight years after being commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2001 to make

India stand up and take note of the steel he was made of.

Now, 19 years after donning the blue uniform of the Indian armed forces, Group Captain Harkirat Sing scripted history as the first Commanding Officer of the 17 Squadron of the Rafale fighter jet when the first batch of the French machine landed in Ambala on Wednesday 29th July.

It is not only a matter of pride for India, but also a sense of achievement that the IAF officer is leading the group of fighter pilots to India with the mean machines after over a decade-long wait.

The others in the the 17 Golden Arrows accompanying Singh are Wing Commanders MK Singh, R Kataria, Sidhu and Arun. Group Captain Singh is also  the first pilot who touched down at the Ambala airbase when the jets landed.

Coming from a family of servicemen, Group Captain Singh was back in 2009 honoured with the Shaurya Chakra, the third-most peacetime gallantry award after Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra.

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/shaurya-chakra-and-commanding-officer-of-rafale-s-elite-17-squadron-who-is-group-captain-harkirat-singh/628878