New Delhi: The 73rd Republic Day was a memorable moment for India. India’s first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot Shivangi Singh was part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) tableau at the Republic Day parade on Wednesday.
Flight Lieutenant Shivangi is from Varanasi and is part of the IAF’s Golden Arrows squadron based out of Ambala in Punjab.
Shivangi Singh joined the Indian Air Force in 2017.
She was commissioned in the IAF’s second batch of women fighter pilots.
Before flying Rafale, Shivangi flew MiG-21 Bison aircraft.
In 2020, Shivangi Singh became the first woman fighter pilot to fly Rafale after she was selected as a Rafale pilot following a stringent selection process.
She is second woman fighter jet pilot to be part of the IAF tableau.
Last year, Flight Lieutenant Bhawna Kanth became the first female fighter jet pilot to be part of the IAF tableau.
The first batch of Rafale fighter jets arrived on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of ₹59,000 crore.
Indian Air Force, so far, has 32 Rafale jets and four more are expected by April this year.
IAF tableau
The tableau this year was based on the theme, ‘Indian Air Force transforming for the future’.
Scaled down models of Rafale fighter jet, indigenously developed light combat helicopter (LCH) and 3D surveillance radar Aslesha MK-1 were part of the float.
It also featured a scaled down model of MiG-21 aircraft that played a major role in the 1971 war in which India defeated Pakistan, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.
A model of India’s first indigenously developed aircraft Gnat was also on display.
The Rafale fighter jets, known for their air-superiority and precision strikes, are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
Meanwhile, the Flight Lieutenant earned praise from different sections on social media. Industrialist Anand Mahindra called her the ‘Rafale Rani’
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