Woman fighter pilot in parade for first time
NEW DELHI: Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth will be a part of the Republic Day parade this year, becoming the first woman fighter pilot to take part in India’s biggest ceremonial event on January 26.
She will be a part of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’S) tableau that will showcase mockups of the light combat aircraft, light combat helicopter and the Sukhoi-30 fighter plane, Indian Air Force officials said on Monday.
One of the first three women to get commissioned into the IAF as a fighter pilot, Kanth is currently posted at an airbase in Rajasthan where she flies the MIG-21 Bison fighter plane.
Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh were inducted into the IAF as the first women fighter pilots in 2016. Ten women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after an experimental scheme for their induction into the IAF’S combat stream was introduced in 2015.
Kanth, who belongs to Darbhanga in Bihar, was born and brought up in the Refinery Township, Begusarai, where her father worked as an engineer in IOCL.
Rafales, Su-30s and Mig-29s, the fighter jets which are part of the IAF’S muscular posture in the Ladakh theatre, will be among 42 aircraft taking part in Republic Day flypast.