Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh is under training to become the first woman to fly the Indian Air Force’s Rafale. The fighter jet that was recently inducted as part of squadron 17 Golden Arrows in Ambala Air Force Station.
From her hometown, Varanasi, and being an alumnus of Banaras Hindu University, Flt Lt. Sigh has come a long way and is preparing herself to formally join the 17 Golden Arrows Squadron. Before she flies the fighter, she has to complete her conversation training. This training is that which is required by a combat pilot who will shift from another fighter.
Flying the Rafale may come as second nature to her as she was previously flying the MiG-21s which is found to have the world’s highest take-off and landing speed of 340 kmph. During her deployment at Rajasthan forward fighter base, this woman pilot has flown along with Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, a pilot who after his MiG-21 shot down during combat was held captive in 2019.
In 2017, when Flt Lt Shivangi Singh was commissioned, she was a part of the second batch of women fighter pilots. Flt. Lt. Singh is one of the ten women pilots of the Indian Air force who has done tremendous amounts of hard work in order to get there. After 2016, this is yet another achievement of womanhood where a pilot breaks all barriers to overcome the women combat exclusion in the armed forces of India.
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