Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

T he IAF’s women pilots are already operating the MiG-21 Bison, Sukhoi-30 and Rafale, the people said. The force began inducting women as fighter pilots five years ago, a turning point in the armed forces. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to assign one of its women fighter pilots to a MiG-29 squadron for the first time, the fourth type of fighter aircraft women in the force will fly, people familiar with the development said on Thursday. The IAF’s women pilots are already operating the MiG-21 Bison, Sukhoi-30 and Rafale, the people said. The force began inducting women as fighter pilots five years ago, a turning point in the armed forces. “Pilots are assigned to fighter squadrons according to laid-down norms. It has nothing to do with gender,” said a senior official cited above. Last year, the IAF assigned Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh to its first Rafale squadron based in Ambala. Ten women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after the experimental scheme for their induction i...

Indian Air Force's Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft  (File picture) Two helicopters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army hovered close to the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh on May 5 and Indian Air Force fighter jets had also been airborne at the same time during a face-off between soldiers near the Pangong lake, sources in the army headquarters said on Tuesday. The latest revelations come at a time there has been an escalation in tension in pockets of the disputed frontier. “The Indian Air Force is regularly carrying out sorties of its Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft in the Ladakh sector amid the simmering tension with China in the region. During the face-off last week, two Chinese choppers had come close to the border but there was no air space violation. The IAF’s Sukhoi 30 fighter jets were also airborne at the same time but it was routine flying and not in response to Chinese helicopters,” a source said. Chinese PLA Choppers Spotted Near LAC; IAF Rushes Fighter Jets To Ladakh...