Women leading from front in armed forces
Warships will no longer be a no-go zone for women naval aviators with two of them — selected for the helicopter stream — set to become the first women in the navy’s history to operate from flight decks of warships and stay on board the vessels, the navy announced on Monday.
The announcement comes even as a female fighter pilot is being trained to fly the Rafale aircraft and join the Ambalabased No. 17 squadron shortly. The woman pilot, who is undergoing conversion training to fly the jet, is one of the 10 women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF), officials said.
“Two women officers have been selected to join as observers (airborne tacticians) in the helicopter stream. They will, in effect, be the first set of women airborne combatants who will be operating from warships,” a Kochi-based navy spokesperson said.
The entry of women has so far been restricted to fixedwing aircraft operating from inland bases, he said. In a short-lived experiment, women from the navy’s logistics branch were deployed on warships in the mid-1990s.
The two lady officers — Sub Lieutenants Kumudini Tyagi and Riti Singh (daughter of a naval officer) — are among the 17 officers who were awarded “wings” on graduating as observers at a ceremony held in Kochi on Monday.
Rear Admiral Antony George, chief staff officer (training), presided over the ceremony. As observers, the two women have been trained for a variety of roles including navigation, flying procedures, tactics employed in air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and airborne avionic systems.
It feels great to be a part of Indian Navy’s history today, said Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi.
“Being combat-ready platforms of navy, through the helicopters, we will be capable of carrying out combat roles including control of weapons and onboard sensors. This profile is exciting and thrilling at the same time.”
“Men on deck be ready to be observed. Women observers for sure will navigate you to the shore. Waiting to see women in the trenches now,” said Wing Commander Anupama Joshi (retd.), from the first batch of women officers commissioned into the IAF in the early 1990s.
They will serve on board maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare helicopters of the navy — currently Seaking choppers and later on MH-60R helicopters being bought from the United States.
“Rear Admiral George while complimenting the graduating officers highlighted the fact that it is a landmark occasion wherein for the first time women are going to be trained in helicopter operations which would ultimately pave way for the deployment of women in frontline warships,” the navy said in its statement.
Along with the navy, the IAF is also giving its women officers more opportunities and exposure with the Ambalabased Rafale squadron set to induct its first woman fighter pilot.
Ten women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after the experimental scheme for their induction into the IAF’s combat stream was introduced in 2015, a watershed in the IAF’s history.
IAF is operating its Rafale fighter jets in the Ladakh theatre where the military is on its highest state of alert, amid heightened border tensions with China.
The IAF’s current fleet of five Rafale fighters is fully operational and ready to undertake any mission, officials said.
India ordered 36 Rafale jets from France in a deal worth ₹59,000 crore in September 2016.
The Rafale jets are part of the IAF’s No. 17 Squadron, also known as the Golden Arrows.
The head count of women in the military adds up to more than 4,000, but combat roles were off limits to them until the IAF took the lead in crushing internal resistance to induct them into the fighter stream.
Tanks and combat positions in the infantry are still no-go zones for women, who were allowed to join the armed forces outside the medical stream for the first time in 1992.