Recently, the 17th "Golden Arrow" Squadron of the Indian Air Force announced that it will welcome its first Rafale fighter pilot. The "Golden Arrow" Squadron is stationed at the Ambala Air Force Base in Haryana and is the "ace" of the Indian Air Force. It is a changer of the "rules of the game" for air combat in South Asia. The Indian Air Force currently has 10 female fighter pilots and 18 female navigators. What is special about this female pilot named Shivanji Singh besides her sweet looks? Why does India allow women to fly Rafale fighter jets called "national treasures"?
It is reported that Shivangi Singh became a "Rafale" pilot, not only because she was a female, but also because she had a "heroic" master. Singh has been flying MiG-21 fighter jets before and has performed very well. Her instructor was Abinandan Wartaman, the MiG 21 pilot who was shot down by India in an air battle between India and Pakistan in February 2019, and Abinandan has become an air battle hero in the hearts of the Indian people.
Abinanfan’s capture was supposed to be a shame to the Indians, but after returning to China, he was regarded as a hero and continued to serve in the air force. India claimed that Abinanvan shot down an F-16 in an air battle, and after being captured, he used his heroism to subdue the Pakistanis and was finally released unconditionally. After returning to his home country, Abinanfan caused a climax of worship in India. His beard style has been imitated by thousands of people. As a direct disciple of Abinanvan, Shivanji Singh came into the eyes of the senior Indian Air Force. She believed that it was of great significance for her to become a Rafale pilot. The subtext is that she can drive the Rafale to avenge the 2.26 air combat. It is not easy for the
fighter pilots to modify the new aircraft. Singh originally drove a third-generation aircraft like the MiG-21, while the Rafale was a 4.5-generation fighter, and the technology span was very large. The Indian army used to drive the Rafale by male pilots sent to France for training, and they have all been selected. Singh became a Rafale pilot in such a hasty situation, which would inevitably squeeze the training time of other pilots. Women flying fighter jets for combat missions were originally a topic that caused widespread controversy. Choosing Singh to become a Rafale pilot is likely to be a face project for the Indian army to deify this fighter.
Flying fighters is a combination of high-intensity mental work and moderate-intensity manual work. Female pilots were originally considered unsuitable for flying fighters. The main reason is that the mechanical control of fighters requires a lot of strength and physical fitness. After the emergence of the third-generation fighters, the fighters were mainly operated by electronic control and computer-assisted operations. Women's strength and physical stamina were sufficient to complete the control of fighters, and their endurance was even longer than that of men. Women are also considered smart and careful, and they have certain advantages in air combat under the conditions of information technology.
However, women still face huge shortcomings when fighting in high-intensity fighter combat-the overload that they can bear cannot be compared with men. A major advantage of the Rafale fighter is that it has good agility in close air combat, requiring pilots to withstand a maximum of 9G overload. Large overload requires pilots to strengthen strength training and increase the proportion of muscles. The proportion of natural fat in women is much higher than that of men, and their muscle strength is also relatively small. Women's muscles can not carry more overload than men when supporting more fat mass. Of course, there are exceptions to any incident, unless Singh is the kind of inexclusive female man who is not suitable for close combat when driving in gusts.
It can be seen that India’s choice of Shivangi Singh to become a Rafale fighter pilot is not simple, it looks more like an image project. It is hard to say whether Shivanji Singh can avenge his master in gust. Once he is shot down and captured again, he may be established as a "female hero" by India. In this way, the Indian Air Force will create a pair of "teacher-student air combat heroes." myth. Of course, if Shivangi Singh is really shot down, the Indian army can also say, "We were shot down because of women." Such reasons are enough to keep Indian men confident!
