Who is Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth? The IAF’s first woman fighter combat leader

New Delhi: Squadron Leader Bhawana Kant has become the first woman officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to graduate from its fighter combat training programme, also known as “Top Gun” school. The elite programme in Gwalior is considered IAF’s highest-level fighter combat training school.

According to NDTV, the 20-week Fighter Combat Leader Course makes pilots prepare for advanced air combat operations as well as tactical missions. Only one in nearly 100 fighter pilots is selected for this programme, making graduation a rare honour.

Squadron Leader Kanth is currently flying the Sukhoi-30MKI

Currently, Squadron Leader Kanth is flying the Sukhoi-30MKI. It is one of the IAF’s most advanced fighter aircraft. Before flying Sukhoi, Squadron Leader Kanth flew MiG-21 Bison. She has built her reputation as one of the IAF’s leading fighter pilots.

Squadron Leader Kanth hails from Bihar. It was in 2016 that she was commissioned as one of India’s first three women fighter pilots. Her induction as a fighter pilot, along with Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh, opened the doors of the fighter stream to women for the first time in the country. After the induction, she went on to make history.

In 2019, she became the first woman fighter pilot in India for day combat missions on the MiG-21 Bison. Later, she also became first woman fighter pilot to participate in the Republic Day parade and flypast. In 2024, she was also the part of a tri-service delegation of women officers from India to visit the World Defence Show, which was held in Riyadh.

Squadron Leader Kanth has learnt the most advanced combat techniques of the IAF

She has learnt the most advanced combat techniques of the IAF. Among these were aerial tactics and long-range precision strike operations. The training has been designed to prepare fighter pilots to lead combat missions and develop air combat strategies in the future.