Bhawana Kanth becomes second Indian woman fighter pilot to go solo

Ambala, (Haryana) [India], Mar. 17 (ANI): Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth became the second woman pilot of Indian Air Force to fly solo in a fighter aircraft.

She flew in a MiG-21 Bison aircraft from Ambala Air Force Station on Friday.

She is second only to Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi who created history on February 21 by being the first ever woman fighter pilot to fly solo.

The 25-year-old is one of the three in the first batch of women pilots, besides Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh, who was inducted into the Indian Air Force fighter squadron on June 18, 2016.

It was in October 2015 that the government took the decision to open the fighter stream for women. Meanwhile, combat roles in the army and the navy are still off-limits for women, due to a combination of operational concerns and logistical constraints.

On December 16, 2017, two women from the second batch entered the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force and were commissioned after graduating from the Dundigul Air Force Academy.

It was only in 1992 that the armed forces began recruiting women to streams, other than the medical stream.

Only selected countries, such as Britain, the United States, Israel, and Pakistan have allowed women in the role of fighter pilots. (ANI)