The Indian Air Force is now planning to induct women into the fighter aircraft stream, IAF Chief Arup Raha said on Thursday.

In a stunning announcement, IAF Chief Arup Raha said on Thursday said the Indian Air Force is now planning to induct women into the fighter aircraft stream.

"We have women pilots flying transport aircraft and helicopters. We are now planning to induct them into the fighter stream to meet the aspirations of young women in India," Air Chief Marshal Raha said as the air force celebrated its 83rd anniversary in Hindon, Uttar Pradesh.

The plan to induct women into a fighting arm is a first in the three services which were earlier not open to the idea of women taking part in combat roles.

This comes in stark contrast to a statement by Raha last year, where he said women were physically not suited for the job and they might face problems while flying fighter planes.

"As far as flying fighter planes are concerned, it is a very challenging job. Women are by nature not physically suited for flying fighter planes for long hours, especially when they are pregnant or have other health problems," he said in March, 2014.

If the decision goes through, India will join countries like Pakistan, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway and Switzerland and United Kingdom, among others, who have women in active combat roles in their country's air force.

While Indian women have been serving in the forces since the early 1990s, they haven't been allowed to have any combat roles.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has also previously expressed skepticism with recruiting women for combat operations in armed forces due to apprehensions about their safety.

In May 2015, Parrikar said when asked about the matter, "No. Think of what can happen if a woman is taken as a prisoner in combat operation," implying at possible atrocities they might suffer if held captive by enemy forces.

IAF currently has women in seven areas: administration, logistics, meteorology, navigation, education, aeronautical engineering - mechanical and electrical - and accounts. The air force currently has about 1500 women on its rolls of which 94 are pilots and 14 navigators.

A major hindrance for women in the IAF until now, was that it took well over Rs 13 crore to train a single fighter pilot, with the huge investment being recovered only over 13-14 years of active flying. Women fighter pilots, the force believed, may get married, have children, and consequently disrupt the IAF's tight flying schedules, reports The Times of India.

Also the fact that women couldn't get a permanent commission in the IAF didn't help matters. But in June 2010, after three-year-long court battle, women officers of the Air Force were accorded permanent commission for IAF. Previously, women officers could serve a maximum of 14 years of service in the air force.

The court orders came in March on a petition from 22 IAF and other 30-odd Army women officers, who accused the government of discriminating against them vis-a-vis their male counterparts.

It also helps that technological advancements have made traditional attributes like physical toughness (as cited by Raha in 2014) redundant for fighting roles, as this TOI report points. Also, flying a fighter is significantly different from a ground combat role in close proximity to enemy forces.

The move will also help IAF overcome shortage of officers in the fighter aircraft stream. In April this year, a parliamentary committee had slammed the defence ministry over the gap between the sanctioned strength of active fighter aircraft squadrons and their actual number, saying that "even the slight edge over rival neighbouring nation" would be lost if the "complacency" remains.

The Standing Committee on Defence said that while the sanctioned strength was 42, Indian Air Force at present has 35 active squadrons. The panel also said in a report, that IAF would need 45 squadrons to counter "two front collusive threat". The reference was likely to Pakistan and China.

It is still not certain what prompted today's announcement by Raha. Is the IAF becoming more progressive with an aim to be more in sync with global trends, or is it just the shortage of combat personnel and pressure to counter the forces like Pakistan and China? Either way, it could mean a historic flight for an Indian woman pilot soon.

with inputs from agencies