New Delhi: One of the pilots who struck the Muridke headquarters of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, headed by India’s most wanted terrorist Hafiz Saeed, during Operation Sindoor last year, was a female fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force.
Sources in the defence and security establishment confirmed to ThePrint that the woman Flight Lieutenant was part of the strike package that struck the LeT headquarters.
The sources said she was flying a Su 30 MKI which fires both Rampage and BrahMos air-to-ground missiles, used during the 87-hour conflict. The sources refused to get into the precise missile that was used, saying the information on weapons used in the attack remains classified.
They said that Pakistan must have retrieved missile debris from the location and would be trying to ascertain what the make is.
Incidentally, a two-part docu-series—Declassified: Operation Sindoor—released recently by the Discovery channel shows a woman officer (identity concealed).
It is learnt that more than one woman fighter pilots were involved in the operation.
“Once they have been inducted into the fighter stream, they are seen as just fighter pilots and not as male or female. Both have the same training and operational roles,” a source explained.
The sources said that more women fighter pilots were involved in targeting military locations during the 87-hour conflict. They said that women pilots flew both Su 30MKI and the Rafale.
In some cases, the woman officer was the Weapon System Operator (WSO) and in some they were the pilots.
On the first day of Op Sindoor, a total of nine targets were hit by the Indian military.
Of the nine, two—Muridke and Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur—were hit by the IAF while the rest of the locations were hit by the Indian Army using loitering munitions and long-range artillery.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Operation Sindoor and the feminist puzzle
Women have their own pros and cons. It’s good to see that they were included. I need someone to explain how are they different from men in this field ? There has to be some factors which can give them edge over men ? Maybe ? Anyway who cares about gender or identity.