As the first female fighter pilot to join the Indian Air Force’s elite 18 ‘Flying Bullets’ squadron, which flies the Indian-made LCA Tejas fighter jets, squadron captain Mohana Singh has accomplished a historic first. Singh recently took part in the historic ‘Tarang Shakti’ exercise in Jodhpur, where she was crucial in instructing the vice chiefs of the Indian Army and Navy during a historic flight.
During this noteworthy exercise, Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani piloted the trainer versions, while Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh flew the LCA Tejas alone. The Indian defence forces’ strong endorsement of the ‘Make in India’ concept was demonstrated by this joint exercise.
Along with Bhawna Kanth and Avni Chaturvedi, Mohana Singh was a member of the first group of women fighter pilots when she joined the IAF in 2016. Singh piloted MiG-21s until she was recently assigned to the LCA squadron at the Naliya air base in Gujarat. Her father is a warrant officer in the Indian Air Force, and her grandpa was a flight gunner.
