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Port Blair, Feb 8: City Parade the ‘Grand Finale’ of Milan-2010 was held at Marina Park, Port Blair during the afternoon hours of 07 Feb 10. Marching contingents from Indian Army, Navy and Air Force participated along with eight contingents from the ships of visiting nations. This colourful parade also showcased the cultural heritage of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and gave the visitors an exposure to the Indian culture and the Defence Forces.
The first event for the glorious afternoon was a breathtaking fly past by various aircraft of the Indian Navy, Air Force and the Coast Guard.
Marking the beginning of the flypast was the banner display by Chetak helicopters belonging to “The Angels” or the 321 flight of INS Utkrosh. The lead helicopter carrying the MILAN banner was piloted by the 321 Flight Commander, Cdr Preekshit Mahajan along with Lt Alok Raj. The aircraft in line astern was piloted by Lt Cdr Vikas and Lt Rajneesh.
Following the Chetaks was MI-8 helicopter, one of the oldest work horses of the Indian Air Force, carrying the Air Force flag. A Russian origin, twin engine, multirole medium light helicopter belonging to the 122 helicopter flight, “The flying Dolphins”, based at Car Nicobar was piloted Flt Lt Rajat Gupta.
This was followed by the formation of three Dornier aircraft, two from INAS 318 and one from 745 Sqn of the Indian Coast Guard. The formation leader of the Dorniers was Cdr SA Joglekar, the second naval Dornier was piloted by Lt Cdr Goraya and the Coast Guard Dornier was piloted by Comdt Bedi.
The most exiting event of the City Parade was the Fly Past and spectacular aerobatic show by the IAF front line supersonic fighters Sukhoi Aircraft. This aircraft is a fourth-generation Air Dominance Fighter with numerous sensors and an array of a variety of Air to Air and Air to Ground weapons, which include beyond visual Range Missiles, long range Precision guided Air to Ground Missiles and other Precision Guided Munitions. One aircraft was piloted by Sqn Leader VK Gupta, while the other aircraft was piloted by Wg Cdr Galahan.
After that breathtaking display of Su-30, the Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy demonstrated Water Para Jumps from AN -32, piloted by Wg Cdr Chari.
The next event was a demonstration by the Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy. The MARCOS carried out a simulated attack on a dummy Oil Rig Platform. The team was launched from a MI - 8 helicopter, captained by Wg Cdr Goswami.
A Gemini was helo-casted from the helicopter and the team comprising of 8 MARCOS then slithered and proceeded towards their objective, the simulated target and attached explosives to the target and subsequently ignited with a time delay. MARCOS team then moved away to a safe distance and successfully exploded the target. The team was then picked by the MI – 8 helicopter.
MARCOS demo was followed by Sky Diving by the Indian Air Force skydiving team ‘Akash Ganga’ wherein a team of 10 Para jumpers led by Sqn Ldr Vishal Lakesh carried spectacular Sky Diving.
The other attractions of the City Parade include Air Warrior Drill by Air Warrior Drill Team of the Indian Air Force which performed thrilling rifle movements in eight different formations.
This was followed by the march past by various contingents. The order of the march past wase first the flag bearers, followed by the parade commander, Cdr M V Raj Krishna then the contingents of the Indian Army led by Captain Sumesh Kumar, Indian Army Band, Indian Navy led by Lt Lloyd Malekar, Air Force led by Flt Lt Santosh Dubey, AOC Band led by Band Havaldar P Ekka followed by the contingents of Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Andaman & Nicobar Police Band, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Philipines and Thailand. This was followed by colourful cultural extravaganza by the Indian Army which includes Khukari Dance by Gorkha Regiment, Lezim Dance by Maratha Light Infantry and Bhangra by 15 Punjab Regiment. The Indian Navy Band performed for the Sunset ceremony followed by synchronised Illumination by five Naval Ships and Fireworks Display.
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