Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

  (Representative image) Get ready to soon see a woman tear into the skies in the new omnirole Rafale fighter, which can also deliver nuclear weapons. Don’t also be taken aback if you finally spot women on board an Indian warship on the high seas. IAF has short-listed one of its 10 women fighter pilots to fly the spanking new Rafale jets at the Ambala airbase, even as the Navy also gets set to deploy two women officers as part of the crew for multirole helicopters that operate from front-linewarships. The twin moves herald a new chapter in the long-standing tussle to ensure the requisite gender equality in the 15-lakh strong armed forces. They also come at a time the Army is conducting a special board this month to finally grant permanent commission to women officers, though it still has no plans to allow them in the main fighting arms of infantry, mechanised forces and artillery. Though IAF has had women transport and helicopter pilots for long, it steadfastly resisted inducting w...