Unlike Indian Air Force, Navy Not To Offer Combat Positions To Women

[Zarvan]

The Indian Navy will soon announce increased role for women but unlike Indian Air Force it will not allow them in combat positions yet.

“All flying areas in the Navy will be opened for women except where it requires staying overnight on ships like carriers and so on,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said while interacting with the media after addressing the Naval Commanders Conference which began on Monday. “We want to give women equal status as long as there are no logistical, infrastructure and training issues.”

The Indian MoD last week has approved women as fighter pilots who will be inducted into the combat stream of the Indian Air Force from next year.

Since their induction into the transport and Helicopter streams of the IAF, the women’s performance has been ‘praiseworthy and on a par with their male counterparts,’ an MOD statement said last week.

Inducting women into the fighter stream would provide them with an equal opportunity to prove their mettle in combat roles as well, the statement said.

The navy will also challenge a recent order of the Delhi High Court which had reprimanded it over the issue of permanent commission for women in the force.

On the issue of Permanent Commission (PC) to women in the Navy, Parrikar observed that there was “no gender bias” in the Navy. Last month, in a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court granted PC for women and pulled up the Navy and the Defence Ministry for “sexist bias” to block women’s progress.

Unlike Indian Air Force, Navy Not To Offer Combat Positions To Women

 

[Abingdonboy]

The Indian Navy will soon announce increased role for women but unlike Indian Air Force it will not allow them in combat positions yet.

“All flying areas in the Navy will be opened for women except where it requires staying overnight on ships like carriers and so on,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said while interacting with the media after addressing the Naval Commanders Conference which began on Monday. “We want to give women equal status as long as there are no logistical, infrastructure and training issues.”

The Indian MoD last week has approved women as fighter pilots who will be inducted into the combat stream of the Indian Air Force from next year.

Since their induction into the transport and Helicopter streams of the IAF, the women’s performance has been ‘praiseworthy and on a par with their male counterparts,’ an MOD statement said last week.

Inducting women into the fighter stream would provide them with an equal opportunity to prove their mettle in combat roles as well, the statement said.

The navy will also challenge a recent order of the Delhi High Court which had reprimanded it over the issue of permanent commission for women in the force.

On the issue of Permanent Commission (PC) to women in the Navy, Parrikar observed that there was “no gender bias” in the Navy. Last month, in a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court granted PC for women and pulled up the Navy and the Defence Ministry for “sexist bias” to block women’s progress.

Unlike Indian Air Force, Navy Not To Offer Combat Positions To Women

It makes sense, the IN faces more constrictions vis a vis aviation than the IAF. This specifically relates to deployments (i.e. on ships)- no IN ship in service or under construction has been designed for separate berthing and mixed crews and thus, for the foreseeable future, the IN will continue to not have female aviators (in combat positions). All shore-based aviation assets of the IN are open to women though (MPAs, SAR helos etc).


The IN will have to be far more pragmatic and forward thinking if they want to have female (combat) aviators, perhaps in a few decades when the IN's Carriers are 65,000+ tons.