First ever, IAF woman fighter pilot Avani Chaturvedi to be part of wargames abroad

Chaturvedi has emerged as the most recognisable faces of women in the IAF after being assigned to the fighter stream.

New Delhi, Jan 07: Avani Chaturvedi, an Indian Air Force woman fighter pilot, and squadron leader will be part of the Indian contingent for the aerial war games to be held outside the country. This will be for the first time that an IAF woman pilot will be part of a war game outside India.

The women fighter pilots have been participating in wargames with the foreign contingents coming to India, including the French Air Force where two of the lady fighter pilots took part.

Chaturvedi will take part in exercise Veer Guardian 2023 that will be carried out from January 16 to January 26 at the Hyakuri Air Base and its surrounding airspace in Omitama, and the Iruma Air Base in Sayama in Japan.

Who is squadron leader Avani Chaturvedi?

In June 2016, Avani Chaturvedi, along with Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh, made history by becoming India's first female fighter pilot. She is a Su-30MKI pilot.

Chaturvedi, along with flying officers Kanth and Mohana Singh, have emerged as the most recognisable faces of women in the IAF after being assigned to the fighter stream.

The IAF is the only one of India's three defence arms to allow women in combat positions. Around a dozen countries, including China and Pakistan, allow women to fly fighter planes.

Chaturvedi was born and brought up in Madhya Pradesh and did her schooling there. She also has a few hours of flying experience in the flying club of her college Banasthali University.

Chaturvedi underwent six months of intensive training at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal, Hyderabad, before she was inducted into the IAF fighter squadron.

In 2018, Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman pilot to take a solo flight in a MiG-21. In 2018 Avani was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

Chaturvedi is posted in Indian Air Force No. 23 Squadron Panthers in Suratgarh, Rajasthan.

On 9 March 2020, Chaturvedi was awarded with Nari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Chaturvedi likes to play chess, table tennis and to do sketching and painting.