Women are flying fighter jets and helicopters often over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in the eastern sector of the Indian Air Force, where the number of female pilots and ground staff is rising.
Female pilots and ground crew officers are deployed across the country and operate in all types of terrain from the world’s highest battlefield Siachen glacier sector to the easternmost landing ground in Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh in support of troops and local population, said the Indian Air Force officials.
According to the news agency India’s first Weapon System Operator of the Su-30 MKI fighter jet fleet Flight Lieutenant Tejaswi said, “We have had brilliant women who have broken the glass ceiling and paved a way for us to follow our dreams to serve the country.”
“It is no longer a unique experience to have women in the fighter aircraft fleet. Everyone including men and women works and trains equally hard. We are on equal footing. In the skies and on the base, we are all first and foremost air warriors first and everything else comes after that,” Flight Lieutenant Tejaswi further added.
An Eastern Command official said that these pilots are doing a great job for the country and for the Indian Air Force. They are our air warriors.
More than 1300 female officers in the Indian Air Force perform ground and aerial operations. Given the government’s initiative to further advance “stree Shakti” inside the armed forces and the potential for the induction of female airmen via the Agniveer programme, the numbers are anticipated to increase even more.
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