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.
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 into the IAF’s combat stream was introduced in 2015, a watershed in the air force’s history. Most of them started off with the MiG-21.