This IAF Squadron Leader was one of India’s first female fighter pilots; now first woman to fly Tejas jet, she is….

Squadron Leader Mohana Singh Jitarwal, who was among the first three female fighter pilots in the country, has achieved yet another remarkable first for women in India’s armed forces, becoming the first woman fighter pilot to fly the indigenously built state-of-the-art Tejas fighter jet. Mohana, 32, is the first woman fighter pilot to be inducted in the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) elite 18 ‘Flying Bullets’ squadron which will operate the LCA Tejas fighter jet.

Who is Mohana Singh?

Born in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, 32-year-old Squadron Leader Mohana Singh Jitarwal, along with two of her colleagues, Bhawana Kanth, and Avani Chaturvedi, became one of the first female combat pilots in India when the three women were inducted into the IAF fighter squadron, 8 years ago, in June 2016.

Three years later, Mohana shattered another proverbial glass ceiling when she became the first IAF female fighter pilot to become a fully operational by day on a Hawk Mk.132 advance jet trainer at Bidar Air Force Station. At the time, Singh had completed over 380 hours of incident free flying on Hawk Mk.132 with training in both Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground fighting mode in 2019, according to officials.

Mohana Singh early life, education

Mohana Singh Jitarwal was born to a IAF officer father and teacher mother on January 22, 1992, in Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. Mohana’s father, Pratap Singh Jitarwal, retired as a Master Warrant Officer in the Indian Air Force, while her mother worked as a teacher and a homemaker.

Mohana completed her schooling from The Air Force School and later earned a B.Tech degree in Electronics & Communication from Global Institute of Management and Emerging Technologies from the Global Institute of Management and Emerging Technologies, Amritsar, Punjab.

As a child, Mohana was more inclined towards sports but also excelled at studies, however, her true dream was to one day become a fighter pilot, a feat which had not been accomplished by any woman till 2016.

First woman fighter pilot to fly Tejas

Owing to her dedication and remarkable aviation skills, Squadron Leader Mohana Singh, has now become the first woman fighter to fly the  Tejas fighter jet after participating in a recent IAF exercise, ‘Tarang Shakti’ in Jodhpur, where she was part of the historic flight by three Vice Chiefs of the three forces.

Mohana Singh’s fellow female compatriots, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi — both IAF Squadron Leaders– are currently flying the Su-30 MKI fighter jets in India’s western desert.

Until recently, Mohana was flying the MiG-21s and was recently posted to the LCA squadron deployed in Naliya air base in the Gujarat sector along the border with Pakistan.

At present, the IAF, has around 20 women fighter pilots after the government opened the fighter stream for women in 2016.

(With inputs from agencies)