Shalija Dhami becomes first woman officer to command a fighter unit in IAF

Category : Defense Published on: March 10 2023

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The Indian Air Force announced that it has selected Group Captain Shaliza Dhami to take command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector.
Group Captain Dhami will be the first woman officer in the IAF to command a missile squadron in the Western sector facing Pakistan.
She is currently posted in the operations branch of a frontline command headquarters.
Commissioned in 2003 as a helicopter pilot, Group Captain Dhami has over 2,800 hours of flying experience. She has flown the Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.
Dhami is the second deployment after Captain Shiva Chauhan of the Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army.
Shiva Chauhan is currently the first woman officer to be operationally posted in Siachen.
The Indian Air Force started inducting women fighter pilots in 2016, the first batch had three women fighter pilots. They currently fly the MiG-21, Su-30MKI and Rafale.