Women to be inducted as fighter pilots: IAF chief

The announcement is significant as it signifies the breaking of the final glass ceiling by women IAF pilots. “They have always served India with great courage and determination”, Modi said in a statement Indian Air Force (IAF) on its 83rd anniversary. SKAT was disbanded four years ago because of shortage of aircraft. The Surya Kiran Acrobat Team was disbanded in 2011 after the Air Force started facing lack of aircrafts, the newly reconstituted SKAT team comprises of British made Hawk advanced Jet Trainers.

So what made Parrikar and Raha change their minds about women in armed forces? Dressed in his IAF uniform, Tendulkar witnessed a splendid air show at the base with various aircraft doing stunning aerobatics in the air.

The flypast included C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, with three of them flying in V formation. Women pilots have also flown the Ilyushin IL-76 heavy-lift transport aircraft called “Gajraj” to Leh.

If the air force’s latest manoeuvre is successful, it will mark the entry of women into combat roles in the Indian armed forces, although India’s defence ministry has been rather tepid about such moves in the recent past.

While Indian women have been serving in the forces since the early 1990s, they haven’t been allowed to have any combat roles. “I don’t see any incongruence in women fighting it out in a real combat scenario”, he said.