Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth becomes the first woman pilot of the Indian Air Force to qualify to undertake combat missions on a fighter jet.
Kanth on Wednesday completed operational syllabus for carrying out combat missions on Mig-21 Bison aircraft during day time.
“#WomenPower: Flt Lt Bhawana Kanth adds another feather to her cap by completing Day Operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison aircraft. She is the first woman fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft,” the Indian Air Force’s official handle tweeted.
#WomenPower: Flt Lt Bhawana Kanth adds another feather to her cap by completing Day Operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison aircraft. She is the first women fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft. pic.twitter.com/J5SWN8A4oD
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) May 22, 2019
Right now, Bhawana will be able to carry out the day mission. She will be allowed to carry out night missions once she finishes the other syllabus.
She is from the first batch of woman fighter pilots of the IAF and is one of the three women – Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh who were commissioned as flying officers in July 2016, less than a year after the government decided to open the fighter stream for women on an experimental basis.
IAF wrote: #WomenPower: Bhawana joined the fighter squadron in Nov 2017 & flew the 1st solo on MiG-21 Bison in Mar 2018. With her dedication, hard work & perseverance she has become the 1st women Officer to achieve this feat. She is from the first batch of women fighter pilots of the IAF.
#WomenPower: Bhawana joined the fighter squadron in Nov 2017 & flew the 1st solo on MiG-21 Bison in Mar 2018. With her dedication, hard work & perseverance she has become the 1st women Officer to achieve this feat. She is from the first batch of women fighter pilots of the IAF. pic.twitter.com/v2voizwFyO
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) May 22, 2019
Hailing from Barauni in Bihar, Bhawana did her schooling in Barauni and engineering in Medical Electronics from Bengaluru and was recruited by Tata Consultancy Services in 2014.
Later she cleared the UPSC exam and was recruited by IAF. She is now posted at the Nal base in Rajasthan’s Bikaner.
