This Female Becomes The First Indian Army Woman Combat Aviator.

Captain Abhilasha Barak became the 1st female combat aviator in the Indian Army.

During a ceremony held at the Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik, the director-general of Army Aviation awarded her the coveted 'wings' alongside 36 other Army pilots.

In September 2018, she was commissioned into the Army Air Defence Corps. She is the daughter of Col S Om Singh (Retd).

Captain Abhilasha has done several professional military courses before joining the Army Aviation Corps, said the official.

The Army Aviation Corps was formed in November 1986. Director General of Army Aviation is a Lt Gen rank officer who leads the Corps.

Over the years, the Corps has expanded exponentially with the addition of new units and state of the alt equipment like Cheetah Dhruv, Rudra light combat helicopter, and remotely piloted aircraft.

With the motto 'Swift and Sure,' the youngest Corps of the Indian Army is set to further grow in its tactical importance in the battlefield to take further its role of force multiplier.

The 3 services have gradually opened up key postings for women in the last few years. In 2018, flying officer Avani Chaturvedi of the IAF scripted history by becoming the 1st Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo. She flew a MiG-21 bison on her first solo flight. Chaturvedi was part of a three-member women team commissioned as flying officers in July 2016, less than a year after the govt decided to open the fighter stream for women on an experimental basis. In 2020, the Navy announced deploying its first batch of women pilots on the Dornier maritime aircraft.