1st woman Rafale pilot in IAF team for multi-nation drill being held in France

Category : Defense Published on: April 29 2023

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Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, the Indian Air Force's (IAF) first female pilot to fly the Rafale combat aircraft, is part of the IAF contingent taking part in the ongoing multinational Exercise Orion in France.
The multinational wargame Exercise Orion is taking place at Mont-de-Marsan in France.
It is the largest ever multinational exercise being carried out by the French defence forces which have involved their army, navy and air force along with their allies. More than 7,000 NATO troops have taken part in the drill.
Squadron Leader Singh is in France to take part in the exercise, where India has sent Rafale aircraft for the first time outside the country.
Singh joined the air force in 2017 and was commissioned into the second batch of women fighter pilots. And in 2020, she became the first woman fighter pilot to fly the Rafale. Before this, she flew the MiG-21 Bison.
Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh is a resident of Varanasi and is part of the IAF's Golden Arrows squadron based in Punjab's Ambala.
Earlier, the IAF sent a woman fighter pilot for the first time to an international exercise in January this year when Squadron Leader Avni Chaturvedi went to Japan for the exercise 'Dharma Guardian'.