New Delhi, November 24, 2017: In a historic moment, the Indian Navy inducted Shubhangi Swaroop as its first-ever woman pilot. Shubhangi and three other women officers were among the 328 midshipmen and cadets who had passed out of the Ezhimala Naval Academy in Kerala on Wednesday.
While Shubhangi, a native of Uttar Pradesh, will soon be flying Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft, the three other women cadets are also all set to become a part of the Naval Armament Inspectorate (NAI), where no female officer has ever worked. The NAI branch looks after the inspection and assessment of the arms and weapons of the country’s naval force.
Shubhangi, who is the daughter of a Naval commander Gyan Swaroop, will now be at the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad where she will undergo professional training along with the pilots of the Army, Navy and the Air Force. Successful completion of the training will make her the first woman pilot of the Indian Navy.
Though Shubhangi is the first Naval woman pilot, the Navy’s Aviation branch has had women officers operating as air traffic control officers and as ‘observers’ in the aircraft who are responsible for communication and weapons, Southern Naval spokesperson Commander Sreedhar Warrier told PTI.
Cover Photograph: Women cadets who were inducted into the Indian Navy at Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kannur on Wednesday
