India's first woman 'Top Gun' pilot: How Sqn Ldr Bhawana Kanth earned IAF's toughest combat badge

Only about one in a hundred IAF fighter pilots are ever selected for the five-month Fighter Combat Leader (FCL) course — a brutal crucible that drills aircrew in advanced tactics and transforms them into the specialists who define how frontline squadrons fight.

By clearing the FCL, Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth has earned one of the most demanding badges in military aviation, returning to her operational unit as an in-house authority on weapons employment and air combat maneuvering.

The training takes place at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), the nerve center of the IAF's fighting doctrine. Beyond conducting the FCL, Helicopter Combat Leader, and Master Fighter Controller programmes, TACDE develops tactical procedures, writes standard operating manuals, and puts newly inducted aircraft, radars, and weaponry through rigorous operational evaluation.

It seamlessly weaves together air-to-air engagements, air-to-ground strikes, electronic warfare, and surface-to-air combat coordination.

Sqn Ldr Kanth’s historic achievement joins a expanding list of milestones achieved by women in the force, coming just two months after Squadron Leader Saanya became the first woman to earn the service's highest instructional grade — the Category-A Qualified Flying Instructor rating.

Hailing from Darbhanga, Bihar, and trained as an engineer before joining the armed forces, Kanth made history in June 2016 as part of the IAF’s first cohort of female fighter pilots alongside Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh. In May 2019, she became the first Indian woman cleared for daytime fighter combat missions in a MiG-21 Bison before transitioning to the Su-30 MKI. She later represented the IAF in the Republic Day Parade in 2021 and the Republic Day Flypast in 2024.

The IAF first opened its cockpits to women in 1994, when Flight Lieutenant Harita Kaur Deol flew solo, and later saw Padmavathy Bandopadhyay rise as its first woman Air Marshal. For over two decades, women were restricted to transport aircraft and helicopters until the combat stream opened in 2016, leading Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi, and Mohana Singh to break through the barrier.

Operational excellence has brought decoration and leadership responsibility alike. Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal earned the Yudh Seva Medal as a flight controller during the 2019 post-Balakot aerial engagements, while officers like Wing Commander Vyomika Singh have fronted strategic government briefings during high-stakes operational confrontations.