Avani Chaturvedi To Be First Female Fighter Pilot To Take Part In Air Exercise Outside India

In a significant achievement of women in the armed forces, Squadron Leader Avani Chaturvedi will become the first female Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot to take part in an international exercise.

According to IAF, she will fly the Su-30 MKI in ‘Veer Guardian’ exercises to be held at Hyakuri Airbase in Japan from 12 to 26 January.

Sq Ldr Chaturvedi earlier became the first female pilot to fly solo in a Mig-21 Bison.

Veer Guardian is the first-ever bilateral air exercise between the IAF and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).

Japanese and Indian forces participate in various other multilateral exercises as well, such as the Malabar Exercise.

Sq Ldr Chaturvedi was part of the first batch of three women fighter pilots who got inducted into IAF fighter squadrons seven years ago.

Her batch included pilots like Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh. Bhawana Kanth, in May 2019 became the first female fighter pilot to undertake combat missions.

Flight lieutenant Shivani Singh became the first female pilot to be inducted in a Rafale fighter squadron No 17 ‘Golden Arrows’. She was from the 2nd batch of female pilots inducted into the IAF.