Nasik: Defence minister Rajnath Singh lauded Wing Commander Nikhil Kumar Rath from Odisha’s Balangir, a fighter pilot with the IAF, after the first public sortie of indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A aircraft manufactured at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) Nashik facility.
The inaugural Tejas Mk1A sortie of around 35 minutes was piloted by Group Captain KK Venugopal and Wing Commander Pratyush Awasthi, followed by aerial displays by Su-30MKI and HTT-40 aircraft, with the Tejas receiving a ceremonial water cannon salute.
Wing Commander Nikhil Rath flew the Su-30MKI.
The Balangir native was among the 25 shortlisted pilots, who underwent training in Russia for one year, for the first human spaceflight mission, a.k.a. Gaganyaan, of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
Son of Ashok Rath, a Balangir-based senior lawyer, and Kusum Rath, a former member of Women Commission, he completed his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Balangir in 1998 followed by Intermediate from Delhi Public School in 2000. He cleared the entrance examination in the first attempt and joined National Defence Academy (NDA) as a cadet. He joined the Indian Air Force in 2003.
