First batch of 3 female fighter pilots commissioned

June 18, 2016 | 03:30 PM | 2 Views
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Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh became the first women fighter pilots to be formally commissioned by the Indian Air Force on Saturday.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who was chief guest at the combined graduation ceremony at Air Force Academy, Dundigal on the city outskirts, termed the event as a "milestone" as it also the first time that women have been given a combat role.

"It is a golden letter day," he said, asserting that "total gender parity" will be achieved "step-by-step" in the armed forces in the coming years.

"There are technical and administrative difficulties which we are likely to face in certain areas, so, step by step we will see that this parity is achieved. Number will depend on how many we can accommodate depending on our infrastructure," Parrikar said.

The three women pilots, who successfully completed pre-commissioning training by the Flight Cadets of various branches of IAF, said they consider themselves "fortunate".

The trio will go to Bidar in Karnataka for their stage-III training for a year on Hawk advanced jet trainers, before they get to fly supersonic warplanes. 

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