Flt Lt Bhawana Kanth becomes first woman fighter pilot in Indian Air Force

Flt Lt Bhawana Kanth made history, becoming the first woman fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force. She is from the first batch of women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force. Having completed her Day Operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison aircraft, Bhawana is now qualified to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft.

Sharing the news via social media, the IAF tweeted:

In 2015, the government had, on an experimental basis, decided to open the fighter pilot stream for women for five years. Commissioned by the then Defence Minister, late Manohar Parrikar, the first batch saw three women selected from of a batch of 125.

The first batch of female fighter pilots which comprised of Bhawana and her cohort, Flt Lt Avani Chaturvedi and Flt Lt Mohana Singh were inducted into the IAF fighter squadron in 2016. The trio has undergone gruelling training since.

Bhawana hails from Barauni in Bihar and her father is an electrical engineer and mother a homemaker. She did her schooling in Barauni and though keen to join the National Defence Academy, she couldn't since women weren't inducted in the programme.

She went on to do her engineering in Medical Electronics from Bengaluru, and was recruited by Tata Consultancy Services in 2014.

But she didn't give up on her dream to fly. She went on to take the UPSC Combined Defence Services competitive examination. From there things changed. She was selected to be commissioned into the Air Force.

During her Stage I training she joined the fighter stream.

In 2016, she and her cohort as part of Stage II underwent a six month training on Kiran intermediate Jet Trainers in Hyderabad at the Hakimpet Air Force Station. The same year, the trio passed the combined Graduation Parade Spring Term at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal.

Last year Bhawana completed her solo MiG-21 Bison flight, and . completing the Operational Syllabus, became the first woman fighter pilot. MiG-21 are supersonic jets and interceptors designed by Russia, and have take off and landing speeds of 340 kilometers per hour.

The IAF has kept women out for long, but this is going to change things. With more role models like Bhawana, Avani and Mohana more and more young girls across India can give wings to their dream and serve the nation.