Archive · 16 Aug 2026
Bhawana Kanth First Woman to Finish IAF's Toughest Fighter Course
Bhawana Kanth is a pilot in the Indian Air Force.
In August 2026, she became the first woman ever to finish the Indian Air Force's hardest flying course, called the Fighter Combat Leader course.
It is a little like the Top Gun school from the movies, but for real pilots.
The course lasts 20 weeks and takes place at a special training base in Gwalior, India.
Almost nobody gets chosen to try it, and many of the pilots who do try do not finish.
Back in 2016, Bhawana was one of the very first three women allowed to fly fighter jets in India.
Before that, women in the Air Force were not allowed to fly fighter planes at all.
She has flown tough jets like the old MiG-21 and later bigger fighter jets called the Su-30.
Now she will help train other pilots and plan missions for the next generation of fighter pilots.
Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth became the first woman to complete the Indian Air Force's Fighter Combat Leader (FCL) course on 6 August 2026.
The 20-week course was held at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, with only about 1% of fighter pilots selected each intake.
Kanth was among the first three women commissioned as IAF fighter pilots in June 2016, alongside Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh.
In May 2019, she became the first Indian woman fighter pilot cleared for daytime combat missions while flying the MiG-21 Bison.
She received the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2020 and has flown both the MiG-21 Bison and the Su-30 MKI.
- Who
- Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth, a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force who grew up in Begusarai, Bihar.
- What
- Became the first woman to complete the Indian Air Force's Fighter Combat Leader (FCL) course, its most demanding tactical qualification.
- When
- Completed the FCL course on 6 August 2026, about a decade after being commissioned in June 2016.
- Where
- Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India.
- Why
- To qualify as a fighter combat leader, shaping air combat tactics, weapons deployment and the training of frontline pilots.
- Name
- Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth
- Achievement
- First woman to complete the IAF Fighter Combat Leader (FCL) course
- Date
- 6 August 2026
- Location
- TACDE, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
- Course length
- 20 weeks
- Commissioned
- June 2016, among the first three women fighter pilots
- Aircraft flown
- MiG-21 Bison, Su-30 MKI
- Honours
- Nari Shakti Puraskar (2020)