The disaster is the most recent in a succession of military aircraft mishaps that have occurred as the government works to update its armed forces and address India’s complicated security issues.
At around 10:00 am, witnesses called the police to report an incident involving a French-built Mirage 2000 and a Sukhoi Su-30 constructed in Russia, both carrying three pilots (0430 GMT).
From the Gwalior air base, which is about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of where they landed, both planes took off.
In a statement, the nation’s air force stated that ”the aircraft was on a routine operational flying training mission” and that one of the three pilots suffered fatal injuries.
It also stated that an inquiry was being conducted to ascertain the crash’s cause.
The report states that the Mirage fighter was taking off with one pilot while the Su-30 was flying with two pilots.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, wrote on Twitter, “I have instructed the local administration to cooperate with the air force in quick rescue and relief work.”
“I pray to god that the pilots of the planes are safe.”
The incident is just the most recent in a string of mishaps involving India’s military jet fleet.
Last October, a helicopter carrying five army personnel crashed in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, not far from the militarised and contentious frontier with China.
Following a Cheetah helicopter crash near the town of Tawang that claimed the life of its pilot, it was the second military helicopter accident to occur in the state that month.
General Bipin Rawat, the head of India’s defence, was one among 13 individuals who perished in December 2021 when a Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter carrying him to an air force base crashed.
India’s outmoded military forces must urgently be modernised, a challenge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is currently facing.
The country’s military establishment is concerned about China’s increasing aggressiveness along its huge Himalayan border, which in 2019 prompted a diplomatic standstill following a deadly high-altitude clash between forces of the two nations.
