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Soon, inflight refreshments for Sukhoi pilots
BANGALORE: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots will soon get to relish delicious snacks like halwa and sip fruit juice inside the cockpits of their combat aircraft during long distance sorties.
IAF has asked the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) to develop light food products in squeezable tubes that the pilots can consume even as they are strapped in their Sukhoi 30 MKIs, Mirage 2000s and the Jaguars.
Dr A S Bawa, director of the Mysorebased DFRL told Express that they have taken up new projects for the IAF and have been developing food products like halwa, pulav and fruit juices that can be consumed from squeezable tubes.
We have in the past supplied a few food items to the IAF, but they had some issues as the pilots found them difficult to consume while flying at supersonic speeds. But now, during a recent interaction, they asked us to develop a few food items for their pilots, he said.
Bawa added that DFRL is developing a few food items for the IAF which will be similar to ones consumed by astronauts on space missions.
However, there was a huge challenge before the scientists while preparing these food items for the air force.
Though the food items are similar to the ones consumed by astronauts, here the challenge is greater. The pilots are strapped in the G-suits and hence cannot move their hands freely, hence we have to identify a place where the tubes can be kept. Besides, they travel at much higher speeds and we also have to keep the G factor (gravitational factor) in mind, said Bawa.
The IAF requirement for these food products for their pilots comes as the air force is hoping to transform into a strategic force with its combat aircraft like the Sukhoi 30 MKI, Mirage 2000, Jaguar involved more long distance sorties.
With all these combat aircrafts capable of air-to-air refuelling by the air forces mid-air refueller IL- 78, the sorties have become longer and an example of this is the IAFs participation in exercises in the US and Europe.
Soon, inflight refreshments for Sukhoi pilots | Sukhoi pilots | Indian Air Force | Indian Express
BANGALORE: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots will soon get to relish delicious snacks like halwa and sip fruit juice inside the cockpits of their combat aircraft during long distance sorties.
IAF has asked the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) to develop light food products in squeezable tubes that the pilots can consume even as they are strapped in their Sukhoi 30 MKIs, Mirage 2000s and the Jaguars.
Dr A S Bawa, director of the Mysorebased DFRL told Express that they have taken up new projects for the IAF and have been developing food products like halwa, pulav and fruit juices that can be consumed from squeezable tubes.
We have in the past supplied a few food items to the IAF, but they had some issues as the pilots found them difficult to consume while flying at supersonic speeds. But now, during a recent interaction, they asked us to develop a few food items for their pilots, he said.
Bawa added that DFRL is developing a few food items for the IAF which will be similar to ones consumed by astronauts on space missions.
However, there was a huge challenge before the scientists while preparing these food items for the air force.
Though the food items are similar to the ones consumed by astronauts, here the challenge is greater. The pilots are strapped in the G-suits and hence cannot move their hands freely, hence we have to identify a place where the tubes can be kept. Besides, they travel at much higher speeds and we also have to keep the G factor (gravitational factor) in mind, said Bawa.
The IAF requirement for these food products for their pilots comes as the air force is hoping to transform into a strategic force with its combat aircraft like the Sukhoi 30 MKI, Mirage 2000, Jaguar involved more long distance sorties.
With all these combat aircrafts capable of air-to-air refuelling by the air forces mid-air refueller IL- 78, the sorties have become longer and an example of this is the IAFs participation in exercises in the US and Europe.
Soon, inflight refreshments for Sukhoi pilots | Sukhoi pilots | Indian Air Force | Indian Express
