On Air Force Day, India honours women officers. Padma Bandopadhyay was the first woman to become an Air Marshal in IAF. Avani Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman to fly solo in a fighter jet, and Bhawana Kanth was the first woman fighter pilot in the IAF's 2021 Republic Day parade tableau. Gunjan Saxena is a 1999 Kargil war veteran.