IAF Woman Flight Lieutenant Flew Su-30MKI in Strike on Lashkar HQ in Muridke During Operation Sindoor
A woman Indian Air Force Flight Lieutenant was among the pilots who struck the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters at Markaz Taiba in Muridke, Pakistan, during Operation Sindoor in May 2025, according to defence and security sources. Flying a Sukhoi Su-30MKI, she was part of the main strike package that targeted the long-established training and indoctrination centre linked to Hafiz Saeed.
The disclosure has brought renewed attention to the role of women fighter pilots in the 87-to-88-hour conflict, particularly after the release of Discovery Channel’s two-part docu-series Declassified: Operation Sindoor, which features a woman officer whose identity has been concealed.
Strike on Markaz Taiba
Sources said the Flight Lieutenant took part in the Indian Air Force package that hit Markaz Taiba, one of the key Lashkar-e-Taiba facilities in Muridke. The Su-30MKI she flew is a twin-engine, multi-role air-superiority fighter that can carry long-range stand-off weapons, including the BrahMos and Rampage air-to-ground missiles used during the operation. However, the exact weapons used in individual sorties remain classified.
She was not the only woman combat pilot involved. Multiple women officers flew both Su-30MKIs and Rafales during the fighting. In some sorties, they served as pilots; in others, they operated as Weapon System Operators, or WSOs. Sources stressed that once officers enter the fighter stream, they are treated as fighter pilots with the same training, responsibilities and operational expectations regardless of gender.
On the opening night of Operation Sindoor, Indian forces struck nine designated terrorist training camps and headquarters across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Air Force specifically targeted two high-value sites deep inside Pakistani territory: the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters in Muridke and the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur. The remaining locations were engaged by the Indian Army using loitering munitions and long-range artillery.
As part of normal operational security practice, the identities of the women pilots who flew in the strike packages have not been disclosed.
Why Operation Sindoor Was Launched
Operation Sindoor was launched in the early hours of 7 May 2025 as India’s precision military response to the 22 April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam. In that attack, militants from The Resistance Front, widely seen as a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy, killed 26 civilians, most of them tourists, after separating them on religious lines in Baisaran Valley.
The stated objective of the operation was to destroy terrorist infrastructure used to plan and support cross-border attacks. India described the opening strikes as focused, measured and non-escalatory, and said only terror camps were targeted, with Pakistani military installations avoided. Fighting later escalated over several days, before a ceasefire arrangement came into effect around 10 May 2025. The full conflict lasted roughly 87 to 88 hours.
Markaz Taiba in Muridke had long been identified as a key LeT hub for recruitment, indoctrination and training. It has also been linked historically to training associated with the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Its targeting, along with the JeM facility in Bahawalpur, represented one of the deepest Indian strikes into Pakistani Punjab since 1971.
Women Fighter Pilots in the IAF
The participation of women in frontline strike missions reflects the Indian Air Force’s gradual opening of the fighter stream to women, a process that began in 2015-16. Women officers now fly a range of aircraft, including the Su-30MKI, Rafale, MiG-29 and Tejas. Their presence in a short, intense conflict such as Operation Sindoor shows that, once fighter conversion is complete, operational duties are assigned on the basis of capability rather than gender.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had earlier publicly acknowledged the role of women pilots and other personnel during Operation Sindoor, describing it as an example of Nari Shakti. The newly reported details go beyond the public briefing delivered on 7 May 2025 by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, an IAF helicopter pilot. They confirm direct combat flying by women officers in the strike packages.
Discovery Channel’s Declassified: Operation Sindoor, which premiered around India’s Independence Day 2026, includes first-hand accounts from military leadership, operational commanders and personnel involved in planning and executing the campaign. Its portrayal of a woman officer, whose identity is protected, aligns with the independent reporting that women pilots were part of the active strike force.
What the disclosure means
The confirmed involvement of women fighter pilots in Operation Sindoor reflects the operational maturation of India’s mixed-gender fighter force. It shows that the IAF’s decade-long effort to induct women into the fighter stream has translated into live missions against designated terrorist targets in a high-risk combat environment.
For defence aspirants and the wider public, the episode also highlights that professional competence, training and mission readiness determine selection for critical strike packages. The identities of the pilots involved remain protected for operational security reasons, and further official details on individual roles or the weapons used in particular sorties are unlikely to be released soon.
This account is based primarily on reporting from defence and security sources as published by ThePrint and corroborated by subsequent coverage. All operational specifics beyond what has been publicly confirmed remain classified.
