Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh from Varanasi is all set to become a first woman fighter pilot to fly Rafale aircraft. It was formally inducted in the Indian Air Force on September 10, 2020, in the presence of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
As per the official, Shivangi Singh is being currently trained to fly IAF’s newest fighter based in Ambala. The fighter pilot is undergoing conversion training to fly the Rafale jet and will soon be joining the Ambala based No. 17 squadron, which is also known as ‘Golden Arrows’.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) currently has 10 women fighter pilots, who have undergone the arduous training to fly the supersonic jets. Reportedly, it takes around Rs. 15 crores to train a single fighter pilot.
Varanasi: Family of Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, celebrates at their residence, as she is set to be the first woman fighter pilot in Rafale squadron of Indian Air Force. She is currently undergoing conversion training and will soon be inducted into Golden Arrows squadron. pic.twitter.com/EjqyxcQHxC
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2020
About Shivangi Singh:
Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh who studied from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), was among the second batch of women fighter pilots who had been commissioned in 2017.
The opportunity of becoming a first woman fighter pilot by flying Rafale aircraft will be a breeze for Singh after flying the high demanding and ageing MiG-21. It has virtually the highest landing take-off speed in the world at 30 kmph.
Shivangi Singh was also previously deployed at a forward fighter base in Rajasthan, where she flew along with Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was taken captive for few days during an aerial skirmish with Pakistani fighters.
Women breaking the glass ceiling in the military:
• 10 women have been commissioned as the fighter pilots after the experimental scheme for women’s induction in Indian Air Force was introduced in 2015.
• In 2016, Flt Lts Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi, and Mohana Singh became the first women to be commissioned as the flying officers into the IAF Fighter stream after the basic training.
• The headcount of women in the military now adds up to 4000 but combat roles were still off-limits for them until IAF took the lead of inducting women into the fighter stream.
• Combat positions and tanks in the infantry are still no-go zones for women, who joined the armed forces outside the medical stream for the first time in 1992.
• Warships now are no longer no-go zones for women naval aviators with 2 of them set to become the first women to operate from flight decks of warships and stay onboard the vessels.
• Sub Lieutenants Riti Singh and Kumudini Tyagi have been selected for the helicopter stream.
Rafale Fighter Jets: Background
In September 2016, India had ordered 36 Rafale Jets from France in a deal worth Rs. 59,000 crores. The air force then formally inducted the planes at the Ambala airbase on September 10, 2020, even though they landed at their home base on July 29, 2020.
The next batch of 3 to 4 Rafale jets has been expected to reach Ambala from France in October 2020, followed by a third batch in December the same year. All the deliveries of the fighter jets will be completed by the end of 2021.
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