Indian Air Force now permanently allows women to fly fighter planes

Six years after the Indian Air Force (IAF) allowed women pilots to fly fighter planes on an experimental basis, the government has decided to make it a permanent feature, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

“It is a testimony to the capability of India’s ‘Nari Shakti’ and our PM Shri @narendramodi’s commitment towards women empowerment,” tweeted Singh.

According to the IAF, 16 women have been commissioned as fighter pilots so far. “The defence ministry has given clearance to make it a permanent scheme,” said a spokesperson.

Women fighter pilots shot into the limelight last week after Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, the country’s first woman pilot for Rafale fighter aircraft, was seen standing on the IAF tableau at the Republic Day parade. She was the second woman fighter pilot to be part of the IAF tableau. The first was Flight Lieutenant Bhawna Kanth last year.

Opportunities for women in India’s armed forces have gone up significantly of late. The National Defence Academy will be inducting the first batch of women cadets in June after a Supreme court in October. The court had also directed the Army in 2020 to allow the permanent commission to women in non-combat streams. The Army now allows women to fly helicopters.

Besides the Rafale jets, the IAF also has women pilots flying MiG-21s and MiG-29s and Sukhoi-30s.

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“Women are flying top-end fighter planes including the Rafales and Su-30s,” Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd), Director-General, Centre for Air Power Studies, was quoted in the media.

“The decision to convert the experimental scheme into a permanent one is an acknowledgement of their capabilities. They have performed exceedingly well in all branches of IAF.”

There are over 9,000 women in different units of the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the IAF, a three-fold jump over the past seven years.

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