Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who has a commercial pilot’s licence, is scheduled to fly in one of the Indian formations.

The show to be held from February 18 to 22 promises to be yet another air extravaganza for lakhs of Bengalureans and outsiders. By footfalls, this is going to attract 3.5 lakh visitors, the biggest Indian show ever, according to organiser Defence Exhibition Organisation (DEO), an arm of the Ministry of Defence.

The event will have Indian military planes and helicopters, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, the Sukhoi-30 MkI medium fighter and the newly-purchased Pilatus basic trainer from the IAF and HAL stables. A highly expectant Dassault of France has brought in three Rafale fighters: this plane is shortlisted to be bought for the IAF.