New Delhi, Oct. 8: Women in the Indian Air Force will soon be eligible to fly fighter aircraft, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said here today.

The air chief's statement marks a change of opinion since March last year when he said at an event in Kanpur that women were not physically enabled to fly fighter aircraft for long hours.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said in the evening he would be meeting the service chiefs shortly on the issue of permitting women into the combat arms.

There is a fine line between permitting women to be trained as fighter pilots and actually deploying them in combat.

Currently, women serve in legal, logistics and education branches in the army, navy and the air force but not in the combat arms such as the infantry or the armoured corps in the army; fighter-flying in the air force and navy. Theyalso do not serve on warships.

"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 of India," Raha said at the 83rd Indian Air Force Day parade this morning.

"I have no doubt that women will be able to overcome any physical limitations to become fighter pilots," he said.

Last March, news agencies reported from Kanpur that the air chief had said: "As far as flying fighter planes is concerned, it's a very challenging job. Women are by nature not physically suited for flying fighters for long hours, especially when they are pregnant or have other health problems."

The issue of permitting women into the combat arms is complex beyond the limits of political correctness. Most of all, the government would be expected to take a call on how it would respond to women being taken hostage in hostile territory.

Apart from that, the government would also look into the economics of training fighter pilots. It costs the central exchequer about Rs 13 crore to turn a flying cadet into a fighter pilot. The fighter pilot is expected to be available for duty most of the time. In the case of women, the top brass have argued that they may not be available for the time required once they start families.

Two studies in 2006 and 2011 by the Integrated Defence Staff and by a tri-service committee have rejected calls for opening the combat arms to women.

But the consistent meritorious performance by women as cadets, especially at the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad (that all IAF officers have to go through before being commissioned) has forced the defence establishment into a rethink.

There are around 1,500 women in the Air Force, including 94 pilots and 14 navigators. Currently they are on short service commission. If permitted into fighter flying, they will have to be made eligible for permanent commission.

Women are eligible for permanent commission now only in the armed forces medical (and nursing) services.