September 21, 2020 3:07:47 pm
Five French-made Rafale multi-role fighter jets were incorporated into the Indian Air Force on September 10 at Ambala Air Force Base.
A female Indian Air Force fighter pilot will soon join the Golden Arrows squad that operates the newly added Rafale fighter jets, official sources said on Monday. The female pilot is in training to fly Rafale jets, they said.
She has been flying MiG-21 fighters and was selected for the Rafale fleet following an internal process, sources said.
Currently, the IAF has 10 female fighter pilots and 18 female navigators. The total number of female officers serving in the IAF is 1,875.
Last week, Minister of State for Defense Shripad Naik told Parliament that female fighter pilots are recruited and deployed in the IAF based on strategic needs and operational requirements.
The IAF’s Golden Arrows squad was resurrected on September 10 of last year. The squadron was originally raised at Ambala Air Force Station on October 1, 1951. The squadron has many new features to its credit; in 1955 it was equipped with the first combat aircraft, the legendary De Havilland Vampire.
Five French-made Rafale multi-role fighter jets were incorporated into the Indian Air Force on September 10 at Ambala Air Force Base.
So far, ten Rafale aircraft have been delivered to India and five of them stayed in France to train IAF pilots. The delivery of the 36 aircraft is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.
A second batch of four to five Rafale jets is likely to arrive in India in November.
The Rafale jets are India’s first major fighter jet acquisition in 23 years after Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, almost four years after India signed an intergovernmental agreement with France to acquire 36 of the jets at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
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