Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth is set to become the first woman fighter pilot to take part in the Republic Day parade. Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth will be a part of the Republic Day parade this year to become the first woman fighter pilot to take part in India’s biggest ceremonial event on January 26, officials said on Monday. She will be a part of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) tableau that will showcase mock-ups of the light combat aircraft, light combat helicopter and the Sukhoi-30 fighter plane. She is currently posted at an airbase in Rajasthan where she flies the MiG-21 Bison fighter plane.
Kanth is also one of the first women fighter pilots in the IAF. She, along with Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh, was inducted into the IAF as the first women fighter pilots in 2016. Ten women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after an experimental scheme for their induction into the IAF’s combat stream was introduced in 2015, a watershed in the air force’s history.
