Ayesha Farooq, 26, Pakistans only female war-ready fighter pilot, poses for photograph as she sits in the cockpit of a Chinese-made F-7PG fighter jet at Mushaf base in Sargodha, north Pakistan. - Reuters
Posted on 06/16/2013 1:03:54 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Pakistan's only female fighter pilot is ready for war
Her olive green head scarf poking out from her helmet, Ayesha Farooq flashes a cheeky grin when asked if it is lonely being the only war-ready female fighter pilot in the Islamic republic of Pakistan.
Farooq, from Punjab province's historic city of Bahawalpur, is one of 19 women who have become pilots in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade. There are five other female fighter pilots, but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for combat.
"I don't feel any different. We do the same activities, the same precision bombing," the soft-spoken 26-year-old said of her male colleagues at Mushaf base in north Pakistan, where neatly piled warheads sit in sweltering 50 degree Celsius heat.
A growing number of women have joined Pakistan's defence forces in recent years as attitudes towards women change.
"Because of terrorism and our geographical location it's very important that we stay on our toes," said Farooq, referring to Taliban militancy and a sharp rise in sectarian violence.
Deteriorating security in neighbouring Afghanistan, where US-led troops are preparing to leave by the end of next year, and an uneasy relationship with arch rival India to the east add to the mix.
Farooq, whose slim frame offers a study in contrast with her burly male colleagues, was at loggerheads with her widowed and uneducated mother seven years ago when she said she wanted to join the air force.
"In our society most girls don't even think about doing such things as flying an aircraft," she said.
Family pressure against the traditionally male domain of the armed forces dissuaded other women from taking the next step to become combat ready, air force officials said. They fly slower aircraft instead,
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ayesha Farooq, 26, Pakistans only female war-ready fighter pilot, poses for photograph as she sits in the cockpit of a Chinese-made F-7PG fighter jet at Mushaf base in Sargodha, north Pakistan. - Reuters
Somewhere in Pak an Imam is having kittens....
Sorry, can’t help but laugh. Go get her Tom Cruise.
Given that the PAF has been operating F-7s for about 35 odd years, it’s not impossible that the jet she’s on is older than her.
Oh, she is a honey! A face only a mother could like. So when she performs her Jihad mission and becomes a female Martyr, will she be met by 72 male virgins? So you see Pakistan really is a liberated, Western culture providing females equal opportunity after all and not a 7th century Muslim cesspool as we have been led to believe! Congratulations!
>>Look at the ‘finish work’ on that forward canopy frame.
What have you got against blacksmiths?
There is only so much you can do with a ball pein hammer and a chisel.
Noticed that right away; pretty sloppy work.
This J-7 is a Chinese fighter and all the notices are in ENGLISH???? WTF???
Correction - F-7, not J-7 ... sorry!
“Oh yeah, that’s a fine-looking weld /s”
JB Weld. Right?
Looks like she had a windshield leak and they used NP1 sealer.
Great stuff but it’s not rated ‘Supersonic’ , AFAIK
Now we know the real reason for burkas.
English has been the universal language of commerce, aviation, diplomacy, IT, the military and government since around the end of World War II. Prior to that, it was French.
A friend of mine is going to Dubai on business and I jokingly offered to lend her my burka. She was surprised I had one but I needed it when I had gone to Riyahd several years ago. When I was packing to go, just before I left, I put it on and walked into the living room where my husband was watching television. He hit pause and just stared. I lifted it over my head and asked him what he thought. He said, “It erases you. I never want to see it again.”
THAT is what they do to women. I am surprised that she is allowed to soil a man’s place there. There is probably a bullseye somewhere on her plane for the pigs to practice.
If you’re referring to the F-7, it is supersonic.
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