The multilateral air combat exercise, Tarang Shakti in Jodhpur, marks the largest-ever participation of women from the Indian Air Force (IAF) in an international exercise, highlighting their growing role in the country’s armed forces, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.

(IAF Photo: A USAF F-35 flying in formation with the IAF’s Tejas during Tarang Shakti)

A decade after the IAF opened its fighter stream to women, more than 25 women officers are flying fighter jets and other aircraft in the two-week exercise featuring air forces from eight countries, including the US, France, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka the officials said, asking not to be named.

“The women officers are flying alongside around 125 male IAF pilots in the exercise. This is not about gender; it is about skills, and the ability to deliver. The IAF is a gender-neutral service where roles are defined by competence and operational capabilities,” said one of the officials cited above. The number of women pilots in earlier exercises rarely crossed single digits, HT has learnt.

More than 80 Indian and foreign aircraft, including fighters ranging from the F-35 to the locally produced Tejas light combat aircraft, are participating in Tarang Shakti. The exercise involves around 1,500 personnel from participating countries, including aircrew, technicians and ground staff. Another 32 countries are represented by observers, including Brazil, Egypt, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.

Five airbases in Rajasthan are directly involved in the exercise including Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Uttarlai and Phalodi, and a few air force stations in neighbouring states are also supporting the drills, the officials said. “Around 6,000 to 7,000 IAF personnel, including more than 200 women, are participating in key non-flying roles,” said a second official.

The Indian military has come a long way since it began inducting women as short-service commissioned officers in the early 1990s. Women in uniform are no longer on the fringes but are being assigned key roles alongside their male counterparts across the three services. They are flying fighter planes, serving on board warships, commanding front-line units, being inducted into the PBOR (personnel below officer rank) cadre, getting permanent commission, and undergoing training at the National Defence Academy.

To be sure, tanks and combat positions in the infantry are still no-go zones for women in the Indian Army.

In May, Squadron Leader Saanya became the first woman officer to earn the coveted Cat A Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) qualification, the highest instructional rating for a pilot in the IAF. The IAF then said her achievement---a watershed in its 93-year history---would inspire aviators across the country. As a Cat A QFI, she is qualified to train rookie pilots, regular pilots and other instructors too. The Cat A is the highest instructional rating a QFI can achieve.

The development came months after Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh became India’s first woman fighter pilot to earn the QFI badge after completing a gruelling course at the IAF’s Tambaram-based Flying Instructors’ School in Tamil Nadu. To be sure, women transport and helicopter pilots were awarded the QFI badge before Singh.

The foreign aircraft taking part in Tarang Shakti include F-35s, F-16s, Rafales, A400Ms, A330 MRTT (multi-role tanker transport) KC-135s, C-130s, and other specialised platforms. These are operating alongside the IAF’s Sukhoi-30s, Rafales. Jaguars, Mirage-2000s, MiG-29s, LCA Mk-1s, Mi-35s, Mi-17s and IL-78 refuellers. This is the first time F-35 fifth-generation fighters are taking part in an exercise in the country—the US has brought six such stealth aircraft to Jodhpur.

Tarang Shakti features visual-range and beyond-visual-range combat missions, force engagements involving high-value aerial assets, air mobility operations and dynamic targeting, air-to-air refuelling, and combat search and rescue missions. “Our operational experience, including Operation Sindoor, gives us lessons. Our partners bring their own operational experience. Bringing these together in a realistic training environment allows us to test assumptions, challenge procedures, understand different methods of employing air power and improve interoperability,” IAF vice chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit earlier said.