Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh To Become The First Woman Fighter Pilot To Fly Rafale

A while ago the internet was buzzing about first-ever Indian woman fighter pilot Gunjan Saxena.

In a similar first, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh is set to become the first woman pilot to fly Rafale, India’s most modern multi-role fighter aircraft.

On September 20, the Indian Air Force had announced that it is training a woman fighter pilot to fly the Rafale but her name has been revealed only now.

The Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh who hails from Varanasi is an alumnus of Banaras Hindu University. Her family celebrated at their residence on the announcement.

She was commissioned into the IAF in 2017 as part of the second batch of women fighter pilots. Shivangi Singh is currently flying a MiG-21 Bison, the oldest combat aircraft in the force’s inventory. She is one of IAF’s 10 women fighter pilots. Till recently, Shivangi Singh was serving at a fighter base in Rajasthan.

As per reports, Flt Lt Shivangi is posted at the same base as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who has become a national hero after he was injured in an air attack between India and Pakistan in February 2019 and was subsequently captivated for 60 long hours until he was released. Wing Commander Abhinandan also happens to be Singh’s flying instructor.

The IAF has been equipping her with conversion training, the course pilots undertake when they switch from flying one aircraft to another, since August. On completion, she will join the Ambala-based 17 Squadron, also known as “Golden Arrows”, home to the Rafale pilots.

By now more than 4,000 women serve in the military but combat roles were off-limits to them until IAF took the lead in crushing internal resistance to induct them into the fighter stream.

Likewise, tanks and combat positions in the infantry are still no-go zones for women, who were allowed to join the armed forces outside for the first time in 1992. The navy is no longer holding back women as Sub Lieutenants Kumudini Tyagi and Riti Singh have been selected for the helicopter stream this Monday.

Let this be a new beginning to all the girls aspiring to fly high in the sky.