Clad in an olive green pilot's G- suit, Nirmala Sitharaman today took to the skies in a Sukhoi- 30 MKI, the first Indian woman defence minister to go on a sortie on the IAF's frontline combat jet. The 58-year-old leader sat in the rear seat behind the pilot in the cockpit of the two-seater fighter jet, which took off from the Jodhpur air base. Sitharaman later described the experience as "memorable". Looking calm, the country's first woman defence minister waved from inside the cockpit and also could be seen showing a thumbs up sign as the aircraft moved for take off. The plane flew west of Jodhpur, sources said. With the 45-minute sortie aboard the supersonic jet, she also became the second Indian woman leader to fly in a Sukhoi-30 MKI after then president Pratibha Patil did so in 2009.
When he was the president, A P J Abdul Kalam had also flown in the fighter jet, an Air Force official said. Sitharaman is the first defence minister to fly in a Sukhoi-30 MKI, the official said. In 2003, then defence minister George Fernandes had also taken a sortie aboard a MiG-21, the official said. Prior to the sortie, Sitharaman was briefed by the pilot. She also familiarised herself with the formidable fighter jet and its cockpit. Earlier, Sitharaman met IAF personnel at the air force station here and reviewed the operational and combat preparedness of the force, the sources said.
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