Squadron Leader Mohana Singh has made history by becoming the first woman fighter pilot to join the Indian Air Force’s prestigious 18 ‘Flying Bullets’ squadron, which operates the indigenously developed LCA Tejas fighter jets.
Mohana Singh recently participated in the ‘Tarang Shakti’ exercise in Jodhpur, where she notably instructed the Indian Army and Navy vice chiefs during a flight aboard the LCA Tejas. This event showcased her role in a historic flight alongside three vice chiefs of the armed forces.
The exercise was recognized as a significant endorsement of the “Make in India” initiative, highlighting the defense forces’ commitment to supporting domestic manufacturing.
Mohana Singh, along with Squadron Leaders Bhawna Kanth and Avni Chaturvedi, made headlines in 2016 when they were inducted as the first women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force. Although women have been flying helicopters and transport aircraft since 1991, it was only in 2016 that the government permitted women to enter fighter jet cockpits.
Currently, Singh has transitioned from flying MiG-21s to her new role in the LCA squadron at Naliya air base in Gujarat, near the Pakistan border. Her fellow pioneering pilots, Bhawna Kanth and Avni Chaturvedi, are now operating the Su-30 MKI fighter jets in the western desert.
Hailing from Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, Mohana Singh comes from a family with a strong aviation background; her grandfather served as a flight gunner in the Aviation Research Centre, while her father is a warrant officer in the Indian Air Force.
