Indian Navy’s First Batch Of Women Pilots Ready For Dornier Aircraft Missions

Mumbai: The Indian Navy got three pilots — Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop, Lt Divya Sharma and Lt Shivangi — as its first batch of women pilots for Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) missions on Dornier aircraft.

On October 20, all three completed Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) at INS Garuda in Kerala capital Kochi. Southern Naval Command (SNC) operationalised the three women pilots.

The women pilots were among the six who underwent the 27th Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) course. They graduated as fully operational MR Pilots at a ceremony held at INS Garuda on Thursday.

The first of the three women pilots, Lt Shivangi is a resident of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. Lt Shubhangi Swaroop hails from Tilhar in Uttar Pradesh and Lt Divya Sharma from Malviya Nagar in New Delhi.

“First batch of 03 women pilots of @indiannavy operationalised as MR pilots on Dornier a/c as they complete Dornier ops flg training (DOFT) with 03 male counterparts at INS Garuda, #SNC, #Kochi on 20 Oct 20,” the PRO Defence Kochi said via a tweet.

The Indian Navy also via a press release said that Lt Shivam Pandey and Lt Divya Sharma were adjudged First in Ground and Flying subjects, respectively.