Bhadauria sees big role for women
NEW DELHI: What began as a fiveyear experiment to allow women to fly fighter jets in the Indian Air Force (IAF) could now see them serve longer in the role, with IAF set to review the previous decision, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI: What began as a fiveyear experiment to allow women to fly fighter jets in the Indian Air Force could now see them serve longer in the demanding role, with the Indian Air Force set to review the previous decision, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said on Wednesday.
The IAF chief, in an interview, spoke in detail about the ongoing reforms in the defence sector, budget cuts likely to be triggered by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy , the role of the locallymade light combat aircraft (LCA) in the air force’s modernisation and the theaterisation of the Indian military.
Nine women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after the experimental scheme for their induction into the combat stream was introduced in 2015.
“As far as the performance of women fighter pilots is concerned, the IAF is satisfied with their progress and we intend to extend this option (beyond five years). The response and performance of women who have joined the fighter stream has been very good,” Bhadauria said.
Currently, there are 111 women pilots serving in the IAF.
The IAF chief spoke about his expectations from the reforms announced by the government in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ --- especially raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the manufacture of defence equipment.
“Raising the FDI limit from 49% to 74% is a huge step as it will pull more foreign investment into the industry.
It will also incentivise transfer of technology for foreign manufacturers,” Bhadauria said.
Asked to comment on the likely cut in the military’s budget because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IAF chief said, “All international and large-scale domestic exercises have been cancelled... We will carefully calibrate the available resources to ensure current combat capabilities are not affected,” he said.
The IAF chief, who operationalised the second LCA squadron at Sulur on Wednesday, said the LCA programme was vital to the air force’s future plans and would form the core of its fighter fleet. The IAF has ordered 40 LCAs split in the initial operational clearance version and the more advanced and final operational clearance (FOC) configuration.
He said the IAF was looking forward to signing the contract for 83 LCA Mk-IA jets .
In March, the purchase of 83 fighters from HAL was approved .
On the theaterisation of the armed forces, Bhadauria said, “Success in any future operational scenarios hinges on joint operational planning, training and integrated application of forces...T he IAF along with the army and navy will do what is necessary to achieve this.”
Theaterisation refers to placing units of the army, the navy and the air force under a Theatre Commander.