The Indian Navy created a history of sorts when an all-women aircrew carried out the first all-women independent maritime reconnaissance mission in the North Arabian Sea in their Dornier aircraft.
Giving details here on Thursday, navy officials said the women crew performed this unique feat on Wednesday. Five officers of the Indian Navy of INAS 314 based at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar, flew the reconnaissance and surveillance mission.
The aircraft was captained by the Mission Commander, Lieutenant Commander Aanchal Sharma, who had pilots, Lieutenant Shivangi and Lieutenant Apurva Gite, and Tactical and Sensor Officers, Lieutenant Pooja Panda and Sub Lieutenant Pooja Shekhawat in her team.
Officials said the women officers received months of ground training and comprehensive mission briefings in the run up to this historical sortie.
The INAS 314 is a frontline Naval Air Squadron based at Porbandar, Gujarat and operates the state-of-the-art Dornier 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
The Indian Navy has been a front-runner in driving transformation in the Armed Forces. It's impressive and pioneering women empowerment initiatives include induction of women pilots, selection of women Air Operations Officers into the helicopter stream and conducting an all-women sailing circumnavigation expedition across globe in 2018. This first-of-its-kind military flying mission was, however, unique and is expected to pave the way for women officers in aviation cadre to assume greater responsibility and aspire for more challenging roles. It perhaps marks a unique achievement for Armed Forces that a crew of only women officers undertook an independent operational mission in a multi-crew maritime surveillance aircraft. It was indeed a mission that showcased "Nari Shakti" in its real spirit, they said.