New Delhi (NVI): Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh has created history by becoming the first woman pilot to join Rafale’s ‘Golden Arrows’ Squadron in Haryana’s Ambala.
Singh, who hails from Varanasi, is currently being trained to fly IAF’s newest fighter based in Ambala. She is undergoing conversion training to fly the Rafale jet and will soon join the Ambala-based No. 17 squadron.
Flt Lt Shivangi was commissioned into the IAF in 2017 as part of the second batch of women fighter pilots and is currently deployed at Rajasthan Air Base.
After completing her schooling in Varanasi, Flt Lt Shivangi joined the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where she was part of the 7 UP Air Squadron in the National Cadet Corps. In 2016, she joined the Air Force Academy for training.
IAF is operating its Rafale fighter jets in the Ladakh theatre where the military is on its highest state of alert, amid heightened border tensions with China. IAF’s current fleet of five Rafale fighters is fully operational.
The head count of women in the military adds up to more than 4,000, but combat roles were off limits to them until IAF took the lead in crushing internal resistance to induct them into the fighter stream.
Meet a real life hero, a young daughter of #NewIndia from Varanasi , Flight Lieutenant #ShivangiSingh . She will be the first woman fighter pilot to fly Rafale aircraft as part of Golden Arrows squadron. @IAF_MCC #NaariShakti#WomenOfCourage https://t.co/uUvMynQLga
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) September 24, 2020
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar took to twitter and wrote, “Meet a real life hero, a young daughter of #NewIndia from Varanasi , Flight Lieutenant #ShivangiSingh . She will be the first woman fighter pilot to fly Rafale aircraft as part of Golden Arrows squadron. @IAF_MCC #NaariShakti #WomenOfCourage”
-CHK
