Meet Mohana Singh, First Woman Pilot To Fly LCA Tejas Fighter Jet

Squadron leader Mohana Singh achieved a historic feat as she became the first-ever woman pilot to join the Indian Air Force's elite 18 'Flying Bullets' Squadron, operating the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas fighter jet. As one of India's first female fighter pilots, Singh has broken glass ceilings in the defence forces as she pierced through the clouds. According to Asian News International, she completed a recent exercise, 'Tarang Shakti' in Jodhpur, where she was part of the historic flight by the Vice Chiefs of the three forces.

Mohana Singh's Historic Journey

Sqn Ldr Singh was part of the first group of three women who became fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force in 2016. She, along with Sqn Ldr Bhawna Kanth and Sqn Ldr Avni Chaturvedi, are now flying the Su-30 MKI fighter jets in the western desert. 

In 2019, Singh also made history as the first women fighter pilot to become fully operational by day on a Hawk Mk.132 advance jet trainer at Bidar Air Force Station. She had completed more than 380 hours of incident free flying on Hawk Mk.132 

Singh was flying the MiG-21s before was recently posted to the LCA squadron deployed in Naliya air base in Gujarat bordering Pakistan. She has now made history as the first woman to fly the indigenously 'Made in India' LCA Tejas fighter jet, ANI reported.

Sqn Ldr Singh could be seen instructing the Army and Navy Vice-Chiefs, Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani and Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, and helping them prepare for it. They flew trainer variants of the LCA Tejas with two fighter pilots.

IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh flew solo in the fighter variant. This joint effort by all three defence forces was seen as one of the biggest efforts to support 'Make in India'. This flight also took place when the world's top air forces attended a multinational exercise in Jodhpur.

Sqn Ldr Mohana Singh has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2020 by then-President Ram Nath Kovind. The Indian Air Force has around 20 women fighter pilots after the government opened the fighter stream for women in 2016.