Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth will become the 1st woman fighter pilot to take part in the Republic Day parade. She will be a part of the Indian Air Force’s tableau in the 2021 Republic Day Parade that will showcase mock-ups of the light combat helicopter, light combat aircraft, and the Sukhoi-30 fighter plane.
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About Bhawana Kanth:
- At present, Bhawana is posted in Rajasthan and flies the MiG-21 Bison fighter plane.
- Bhawana is also one of the first women fighter pilots to be inducted into the Indian Air Force in the year 2016.
- She was inducted into IAF in 2016 along with Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi.
- Since then 10 women have been commissioned as fighter pilots in IAF.
- Induction of Bhawana and other two women fighters was an experimental scheme of induction of women in IAF’s combat stream introduced in the year 2015.
2021 Republic Day Parade
The newly inducted Rafale fighter aircraft will also be featured in the 2021 Republic Day parade. The aircraft will culminate the flypast by forming the ‘Vertical Charlie’ formation. 38 IAF aircraft and 4 Indian Army planes will participate in the flypast of 26th January. The flypast will be divided into two blocks. 5 Rafale fighter jets were inducted into the IAF in September 2020.