Two More Women Officers Enter IAF Stream
The Air Force Test Pilot School, which comes under the Bengaluru-based Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), has so far produced 331 experimental test pilots and 148 flight test engineers since it was set up in 1972.
Two women officers have made it to an elite air force stream dominated by men for decades and have begun discharging their duties as flight test engineers – professionals who are responsible for evaluating aircraft and airborne systems before their induction into the armed forces, officials familiar with the development said on Saturday.
Squadron Leaders Bhoomika Paliwal and Renuka Dey are among the only three women officers to have graduated as flight test engineers from the Air Force Test Pilot School in Bengaluru in its 50-year history, the officials said. Last year, Squadron Leader Aashritha V Olety became the air force’s first woman flight test engineer.
The Air Force Test Pilot School, which comes under the Bengaluru-based Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), has so far produced 331 experimental test pilots and 148 flight test engineers since it was set up in 1972.
Paliwal and Dey graduated from the school in June as part of the 44th Flight Test Course, the officials said.
“My experience in the world of flight-testing while being rigourous has also been extremely enriching,” said Paliwal, who topped the course and was felicitated by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. She added that the learning curve was steep, but the course has equipped her with skill sets required for “the real-world flight test challenges”.
Dey was also upbeat about the flight-testing opportunity and the “unlimited prospects ahead”.
Excluding the medical wing in which women have been serving for decades, the army accounts for around 7,000 women officers, while IAF and navy have more than 1,600 and 700 women officers each. In percentage terms, women still form a small part of the military – 0.56% of the army, 1.08% of the air force and 6.5% of the navy, but several new avenues have been opened up for them over the last decade.
Test pilots, test engineers and test instrumentation engineers form an important team in test flying, experts said.
“It is indeed a privilege to be a part of this elite tester’s fraternity. It is incredible to know what goes on behind the deliverables, and it is much more fascinating to be the one doing it as an active member. I am happy that today the doors are open to all women to live this remarkable dream,” said Olety.
The development comes when new doors have been opened for women in the armed forces – the navy is giving them more opportunities to serve on board warships alongside their male counterparts, the army has allowed them to fly helicopters, and they are now eligible for permanent commission. Women candidates will also be joining the National Defence Academy this month for the first time.
One of the turning points for women in the military came in 2015 when IAF decided to induct them into the fighter stream. In May, fighter pilots Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma and Flying officer Ananya cemented their place in the country’s military aviation history by becoming the first father-daughter pair to fly in a formation of jets.
Apart from IAF’s latest Rafale jets, IAF’s women pilots are also operating the MiG-21s, Sukhoi-30s and MiG-29 fighters. Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, the country’s first Rafale pilot, was part of the IAF tableau that featured in the Republic Day parade this year.
While women have now been allowed to fly fighter planes and serve on warships, tanks and combat positions in the infantry are still no-go zones. They were permitted to join the armed forces outside the medical stream for the first time in 1992.
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