Creating History: Indian Navy Recruits First Batch Of Woman Pilots For Maritime Reconnaissance Missions
Indian Navy has its first batch of women pilots for Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) missions on Dornier aircraft. The pilots completed Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) on October 20 at INS Garuda in Kerala's Kochi.
Indian armed forces have been working towards being more inclusive of female soldiers and pilots, and now, Indian Navy has its first batch of woman pilots for Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) missions on Dornier aircraft. The pilots completed Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) on October 20 at INS Garuda in Kerala's Kochi.
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Operationalised by southern naval command, the three women are Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop, Lt. Divya Sharma and Lt Shivangi. They are three of the six pilots who underwent the 27th Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) course.
They graduated as fully operational MR pilots at a ceremony held at INS Garuda on October 22, upon the completion of the course.
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Representational Image/GlibsQuick
The pilots had undergone basic flying training with the Indian Air force as well as the Indian Navy, prior to the DOFT course. One month of ground training followed by eight months of flying training at INAS 550 constituted the nine-month-long course at the Dornier Squadron of the Southern Naval Command.
Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop hails from Uttar Pradesh's Tilhar and Lt Divya Sharma from Malviya Nagar in New Delhi.
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#harkaamdeshkenaam
¡ª PRO Defence Kochi (@DefencePROkochi) October 22, 2020
First batch of 03 women pilots of @indiannavy operationalised as MR pilots on Dornier a/c as they complete Dornier ops flg training (DOFT) with 03 male counterparts at INS Garuda, #SNC, #Kochi on 20 Oct 20.@SpokespersonMoD @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/tJFDg1vTgq
The PRO Defence Kochi tweeted, ¡®First batch of 03 women pilots of @indiannavy operationalised as MR pilots on Dornier a/c as they complete Dornier ops flg training (DOFT) with 03 male counterparts at INS Garuda, #SNC, #Kochi on 20 Oct 20¡¯.
The Indian Navy also said that lieutenant Shubham Pande and lieutenant Divya Sharma were adjudged First in Ground and Flying subjects, respectively.
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With Inputs from PTI.
