The other firsts included Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying homage at the National War Memorial instead of at the Amar Jawan Jyoti. The memorial following its inauguration in February last year became the place for wreath laying on all designated events. Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro was the chief guest for this year’s celebrations

New Delhi: A tri-Services formation, comprising three advanced light helicopters, was for the first time part of the flypast during the Republic Day parade. The grouping represented the synergy between the Army, Air Force and Navy.

The formation, flying at a speed of 180 km/hour, was led by IAF Group Captain Abhishek Shukla, commanding officer of 116 Helicopter Unit. The Army pilot was Lieutenant Colonel Atul Srivastava and the Navy’s was Commander Ajay Yadav.

The formation depicted the synergy between the three services which is the essence of any modern warfare, an official said. It comes in the backdrop of the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff earlier this month.

The other first was the flypast of Chinook and Apache helicopters. Three Chinook helicopters were flying in ‘Vic’ formation at 180 km/hour. The Chinook heavy lift helicopters were inducted into the IAF in March.

The Apache attack helicopters flew past in a group of five. The battle proven machines were inducted into the IAF in September last year, boosting Air Force’s capabilities to hit cross-border terrorist launch pads.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying homage at the National War Memorial instead of the Amar Jawan Jyoti was another first for this year’s Republic Day. The other important showcase for this year’s parade was the anti-satellite weapon system.

IAF’s tableau comprised of a scaled down version of Rafale aircraft, Tejas aircraft, light combat helicopters, Akash and Astra missiles.

The Navy tableau highlighted models of Boeing P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, Kalvari class submarine and indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant, which is under construction at the Cochin Shipyard.

Captain Tania Sher Gill, a fourth generation Army officer, led an all male marching contingent, becoming the second woman to do so.