As the total of India is reveling in the glory of the arrival of five multi-role Rafale fighter jets at the Indian Air Power (IAF) base in Ambala, air commodore Hilal Ahmad Alternatively is earning headlines for his priceless contribution in the shipping and delivery of the France-produced jets.

However, quite a few media studies have claimed that Hilal, who is presently India’s Air Attache in France, is the initially Indian pilot to fly a Rafale. Subsequently, hundreds of social media end users considered the reviews and even more circulated the info on Fb, Twitter and WhatsApp.

“Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather is the first Indian Air Force officer to fly Rafale. Currently serving as an Air Attaché to France, Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Alternatively is a adorned officer of the Indian Air Power from Kashmir. He was commissioned in IAF as a Fighter Pilot,” study one particular of numerous posts on Twitter.

Actuality-Checking the declare

When Hilal has unquestionably performed a essential purpose in the clean shipping and delivery of India-specific Rafale jets, Worldwide Business enterprise Periods, India, has acquired from credible sources that he did not fly the fighter plane to Ambala.

As an Air Attache, Hilal taken care of protocol-linked troubles, administered the essential paperwork and other formalities of the procurement. A resident of Bakhshiabad in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, Hilal noticed off the very first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France and was also instrumental in weaponizing the plane as for each Indian conditions.

Even so, Hilal’s services and accomplishments must be celebrated as the victory of India’s equality, pluralism and development. He was commissioned in the IAF as a fighter pilot in the Flying Branch on December 17, 1988. He was promoted as Flight Lieutenant in 1993, Wing Commander in 2004, Group Captain in 2010 and Air Commodore in 2016.

An officer with incredible achievements, Hilal also gained the Nationwide Protection Academy’s (NDA) Sword of Honour. The award is supplied to the officer who achieves the in general best overall performance during his or her overall education period at the academy.

The 1st 5 of a batch of French Rafale fighter plane arrived in India for speedy deployment amid China’s aggression together the Line of Genuine Regulate in Ladakh.