After IAF, Navy gets 1st woman fighter pilot

NEW DELHI: After IAF, which now has over 20 women fighter pilots , the Navy too now has a woman officer all set to begin one year of final training to qualify as a full-fledged MiG-29K pilot capable of tearing into the sky from an aircraft carrier on the high seas.

Sub-Lieutenant Aastha Poonia and Lt Atul Kumar Dhull received their prestigious " Wings of Gold " after completing their transitional fighter training on Hawk advanced jet trainers, which includes learning intensive combat maneuvers, at INS Dega at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

"Sub-Lt Poonia has become the first woman to be streamed into the fighter stream of naval aviation , shattering barriers and paving the way for a new era of women fighter pilots in the Navy," an officer said .

In her early-20s, Sub-Lt Poonia will now undergo extensive training on actual fighters, which has a ski-jump to resemble an aircraft carrier's deck.