In a first, Navy deploys women on warships

IAF training woman pilot to fly Rafale

In a historic move to provide equal opportunity to women officers, for the first time the Indian Navy has allowed deployment of women officers on warships. Till now, women were not given duties on sea-bound ships due to a variety of reasons, including lack of privacy and separate washrooms.

In another development, the IAF has started training a woman pilot for flying the newly-inducted five Rafale jets. The force has already inducted ten women officers as fighter pilots to fly various planes like the Mig-21s.

As regards the Navy, Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh will be the first women officers deployed on Navy warships as part of the ship’s crew.

These two officers are training to operate a host of sensors onboard multi-role helicopters, including sonar consoles and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) payloads. Earlier, entry of women was restricted to the fixed wing aircraft that took off and landed ashore.

These officers are a part of a group of 17 officers of the Indian Navy, including four women officers and three officers of the Indian Coast Guard, who were awarded “wings” on graduating as “observers” at a ceremony held on Monday at INS Garuda, Kochi. The ceremony was presided by Rear Admiral Antony George, Chief Staff Officer (Training) who presented the awards and coveted wings to the graduating officers.

In addition, he also awarded the ‘Instructor Badge’ to six other officers, (five from the Indian Navy including a woman and another from Indian Coast Guard) who had successfully graduated as Qualified Navigation Instructors (QNI) on the occasion.

Sources said Tyagi and Singh will eventually fly the Navy’s new MH-60 R helicopters. Widely considered the most advanced multi-role helicopters of their class in the world, the MH-60R is designed to detect enemy ships and submarines which can be engaged using missiles and torpedoes. The 2.6 billion dollar deal was approved in 2018 for procuring these helicopters manufactured by the Lockheed-Martin.

Hailing from Ghaziabad, Tyagi is the first from her family to join the Armed forces while Singh who is her course-mate is fourth generation Services officer. Her father had retired from the Navy some years back.

Both of them said the training was very rigorous and thorough and the two officers completed more than 60 hours of flying. Once inducted on the warships, they will be responsible for hunting enemy submarine and provide crucial information to the pilot to fire missiles or torpedoes to neutralise the threat.

When asked about pressure, the two officers said the training has equipped “them to take pressure and tension bang on.”

Meanwhile, the IAF has selected a woman pilot for training to fly the multi-role Rafale jets. Operational conversion of this officer has begun and she may join the Golden Arrows squadron of the Rafales at the Ambala airbase.

In 2016, Flight Lieutenant Bhawanna Kanth, Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi, and Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh became India’s first women fighter pilots. At the moment, the IAF has 1,875 women in service including 10 fighter pilots. Eighteen women officers are navigators deployed in the fighter-fleet as well, operating as Weapons Systems Operators on fighter jets.

Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/pioneer-exclusive/in-a-first--navy-deploys-women-on-warships.html