The trio has followed in the footsteps of Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth, and Mohana Singh, who were commissioned as Flying Officers in July 2016.
Just as the first batch of three women fighter pilots gets ready to make history by joining the combat squadrons of the Indian Air Force (IAF), three others have begun their journey towards the skies.
Cadets Rashi Raina, Shivangi Singh, and Pratibha are currently undergoing the first stage of training to become fighter pilots. "The three cadets will be commissioned as officers by December and will start the next round of more gruelling training sessions. The second phase of training will be around 15 months," an IAF source said.
The cadets are being trained on the Kiran aircraft at the Hakimpet Air Force Station near Hyderbad but will soon graduate to the Hawks for the next stage.
The trio has followed in the footsteps of Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth, and Mohana Singh, who were commissioned as Flying Officers in July 2016.
The three are in the last leg of their training and will be assigned as fighter squadrons in the next 2-3 weeks, sources in the Air Force said.
"After being commissioned as officers, the three cadets will be sent to the Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka for more advanced training on Hawk trainers," Air Force sources said.
Talking about women being inducted as fighter pilots, Indian Air Force Chief BS Dhanao said: "Flying is gender neutral, like driving. Women have to volunteer to become fighter pilots and have to make the cut." He was addressing the annual press conference on Thursday.
There had been some resistance to include women in military combat roles but with the pilots being finally assigned fighter squadrons, the gates for more women have opened. Last year, the government decided to include women pilots on an experimental basis.
"With three more cadets waiting in the wings, we will soon have many more women fighter pilots," an IAF officer said.
Meanwhile, though the recruitment of women in armed forces has decreased in the last one year, more women are showing a keen interest in joining the Air Force. In fact, in non-combat roles open to women as officers, the Air Force attracted most recruits. With 13 per cent women officers, Air Force is far ahead of the Army (3.64 per cent) and Navy (4.49 per cent).
In a big step towards addressing the gender bias in armed forces, the Army had recently decided to include women into military police. Currently, women are recruited for select roles in medical, education, legal, signals, and engineering wings, and only as officers.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "women IAF pilots")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}