Indonesian Air Force to fly fighter jets to wake people for ‘sahur’ during month of Ramadan

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According to jakartapost, The Indonesian Air Force has announced that it will participate in the country’s tradition of waking people up during the fasting month of Ramadan for sahur

During sahur, low-flying fighter aircraft will soar the skies and pilots will be required to use afterburners, which generate noise.

Suhūr or Suhoor is an Islamic term referring to the meal consumed early in the morning by Muslims before fasting, sawm, before dawn during or outside the Islamic month of Ramadan. The meal is eaten before Fajr prayer.

Through its Twitter account, the Air Force said jet fighter training would be conducted in several cities on Java Island, namely Surabaya in East Java, Surakarta, Klaten and Sragen in Central Java and Yogyakarta.

“God willing, we will carry out the tradition to wake people up for sahur using fighter aircraft,” the tweet reads.

"Tradisi" ini sebenarnya bertujuan untuk lebih mendekatkan #TNIAU kepada rakyat. Tagar #jauhdilangitdekatdihati akan kami buktikan dengan menyemarakkan #sahur di bulan penuh rahmat dan ampunan ini. Apakah afterburner atau sonicboom? Entahlah. Asal jangan ada yang minta Mk-82. ? pic.twitter.com/hJBGKoHpPE — TNI Angkatan Udara (@_TNIAU) May 8, 2019

Separately, Air Force spokesperson Col. Sus M. Yuris said the mission was not merely for maintaining tradition, but to make sure that Air Force personnel do not train after 10 a.m during Ramadan.

Dawn is the right time to fly for fighter pilots, according to medical experts, who advised against training until after 10 a.m., when the blood sugar levels of people who fast begin to drop.

“Fighter pilots are not recommended to operate aircraft when they are in the state of having low blood sugar levels,”

He added that it was a “combined mission” to wake people up for sahur during training time.

A training program at dawn was initiated by the Air Force several years ago. Two kinds of aircraft were mainly used: the F-16 and the T50i. (vny)