Spectacular show of ‘made-in-India’ weapons and display of Nari Shakti at Republic Day parade | India News

NEW DELHI: 74th Republic Day Parade is about the spectacular display of Indian-made weapons, the growing role of ‘Nari Shakti’ in the armed forces and the signs the country has left behind its colonial past.
Before the start of the grand parade on Kartavya roadPrime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation to pay respects to the martyrs by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial.
For the first time in India’s Republic Day history, British-era 25 pounder guns, which had been in use for decades to celebrate 21 guns, have been replaced by native Indian 105mm Field Guns. . Vintage firecrackers, once used in World War II, were silenced and desi guns exploded in the gun salute. Although 105 mm desi guns were first used on Independence Day last year, this is the first time they have been used on Republic Day. In addition, for the first time, the President of Egypt — Abdel Fattah El-Sisi — was the special guest of the parade. He came with an army of the Egyptian Army, the first to march on the Kartavya Road.
Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, AVSM, Commander-in-Chief, Delhi Area, was the parade leader. Major General Bhavnish Kumar, Chief of Staff of the Delhi Area, is second in command. Indian President Droupadi Murmu, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, saluted as Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth led the parade. The Indian Army is represented by columns of 61 Cavalry deployed, nine mechanized columns, six backup marching squads, and one Army Aviation helicopter flyover – two ALHs (Dhruv) and two Rudra helicopter integrated ALH weapon system.
Three Param Vir Chakra Awardees & three Ashok Chakra Awardees participated in the parade. And Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar Vijetas is in the public gypsy world. Returning to the old traditional route, the parade started from Vijay Chowk at 10:30 am and the backup troops marched right to the Red Fort when restrictions imposed during the Covid pandemic resulted in the Parade cuts for a number of years were lifted this time.
A special feature of the Republic Day parade was the participation of the 120-member army from Egypt and newly recruited Agniveers. The focus of this year’s parade is ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ as most of the weapon systems on display are domestically produced such as Arjun MK-1 main battle tank, K-9 Vajra self-propelled howitzer, BMP, Akash, BrahMos and Nag missiles. rocket. Three fast response combat vehicles, two 10m short span bridges and a mobile microwave node & mobile network hub are part of the mechanized mast.
Besides the mechanized and mounted columns, this time there were also eight marching squads of the armed forces. Of these, six are reserve teams from the Army and one from the IAF and Navy. In total, there are 16 backup forces, including police and paramilitary forces.
Lieutenant Colonel Disha Amrith, 29, is the first female Navy officer to lead a navy of 144 sailors, demonstrating the growing role of ‘Nari Shakti’ in the military. Armed with assault rifles, female soldiers in colorful uniforms, often deployed along the desert border with Pakistan, join the BSF’s camel team for the first time. The female officers are also part of the backup force of the Signal Corps, the Army Air Defense Force, and the Army Daredevil Force. Lt Chetna Sharma from the Army Air Defense Force saluted the supreme commander from the vehicle carrying the Akash missile defense system.
Some boys and girls from the NCC and NSS marching teams also joined the parade
A total of 27 animations from different states, divisions and armed forces participated. Among them, 17 works from the states and UT, and 6 works from different ministries and departments — depicting India’s vibrant cultural heritage as well as economic and social progress.
The Ministry of Interior displayed two scenes – one each by the Drug Control Department and the Central Armed Police Force – while one each by the Ministry of Agriculture, Tribal Affairs, Culture and CPWD. display. The theme of the DRDO animation is “Defend the Nation with Effective Surveillance, Communication, and Deactivation of Threats”. Navy animation showcases India’s first passenger drone, Varuna, which will soon enter naval service.
There are attractive musical performances by a group of artists selected through national ‘Vande Bharatam’ competitions.
The audience cheered enthusiastically as the Signals Army team of Daredes performed acrobatic stunts on a 50 cc motorcycle running on Kartavya Path. One of the Daredevils showed off his skills by climbing a more than 18-foot ladder mounted on his motorcycle. The Daredevils team was co-led by a female officer, Lt Dimple Singh Bhati, who participated in this parade for the first time. As a first generation army officer from Jodhpur, Lt Dimple trained for the past year to get where he is today.

An IL-38 maritime reconnaissance aircraft, which has served the Navy for nearly 42 years, flew for the first and last time as part of the flight. It was among 50 aircraft that took part in the flight.
Nine Rafale planes, newly purchased from France, were also part of the flight in celebration of R-Day. Four Rafales were in the Netra formation and another four were in the Vajrang formation with C-130 aircraft, and one performed a ‘Vertical Charlie’ maneuver at the end of the leg.
Other airborne formations during flight included ‘Dhawj’, ‘Rudra’, ‘Baaz’, ‘Prachand’, ‘Tiranga’, ‘Tangail’, ‘Garuda’, ‘Amrit’ and ‘Trishul’ where the Other fighter and transport aircraft such as the Dakota Transporter, C-130 and C-17, AEW&C, Jaguars and Su-30 MKI took part. Three MIG-29s were flying over the Kartavya Road as the Indian Air Force marching troops passed the President.