IAF may let women fly fighters
If govt clears it, women’s combat role to take at least 3 yrs
In a major announcement on Air Force Day that led to a lot of buzz and tremendous excitement Thursday, and particularly among women officers, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said the IAF was now planning to induct women into the fighter aircraft stream. This is a major victory for women officers who have long been hoping to be allowed to become fighter pilots. Women officers in the IAF already fly transport aircraft and helicopters, and there are about 110 women IAF pilots.
Globally, many countries like the United States, Israel, the Netherlands, UAE, and even Pakistan have women fighter pilots. This is expected to help the IAF overcome shortage of officers in the fighter aircraft stream. The deployment of women in combat duties will also be discussed during a meeting between defence minister Manohar Parrikar and the three service chiefs in the
Air Force steals a march over Army & Navy, a landmark in Indian armed forces
next few days, top defence sources said Thursday evening.
“We have women pilots flying transport aircraft and helicopters. We are now planning to induct them into the fighter stream to meet the aspirations of young women in India,” the Air Chief said, addressing air warriors at the Hindon airbase near Delhi. If the proposal is cleared by the government, the IAF is expected to monitor the performance of women pilots on the Advanced Jet Trainer Hawk after giving the requisite training. Sources said that if cleared by the government, new women officer recruits for the fighter stream or else recently- recruited women officers flying transport aircraft may be given training for fighters, but the modalities are yet to be worked out.
Continued from Page 1 Describing it as a “progressive step”, Air Chief Marshal Raha said he does not see any “incongruence” in women fighting in a real combat scenario.
The IAF move will be taken up by the defence ministry, and if cleared, it will take at least three years to have a fully- operational woman fighter plane pilot, he told reporters.
Sources indicated the MoD was likely to take a favourable call.
Interestingly, a former service chief, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the issue of women being allowed to become fighter pilots was a contentious one, with one school of thought that they may physically not be able to withstand the rigours of a cockpit in a fighter plane. But there are others who disagree with this view, noting that as several other countries have women fighter pilots, there is no reason why IAF women officers cannot distinguish themselves in this role too.
The plan to induct women into a fighting arm is a first in the three services, which were earlier not open to the idea of women taking part in combat roles on the ground that women officers may be exposed to grave danger if there is combat at very close quarters with the enemy.
The IAF’s move may put pressure on both the Army and Navy to also offer combat roles to their women officers in future.
Asked what steps would the IAF take if a woman fighter pilot was shot down across the border in a conflict, the IAF chief said they “need not necessarily” go across.
“We have a lot of roles for fighter pilots or fighter aircraft within the country, especially air defence, training, qualified flying instructor. There are so many other tasks. So, if the need arises, they will also do proper combat roles. That is for the future. I don’t see any incongruence in women fighting in a real combat scenario,” he said.
He said unlike the Army and Navy, the Air Force operates in a different environment. “We operate from bases, so women have a good opportunity to fly fighters,” he said.
Air Chief Marshal Raha said the IAF’s women officers “are all capable... They have been doing well in every field. So this is an aspiration of young Indian women and we would like to go along with this because it is a progressive step. We want to progress forward”.