Meet the First IAF Woman Pilot To Participate in Aerial War Games Abroad

The first female fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), squadron leader Avani Chaturvedi will be adding another feather to her cap.  She will be leading a team of women officers to take part in the opening air exercise Veer Guardian 2023. The goal of the exercise Veer Guardian is to improve India and Japan's bilateral air defense cooperation. Earlier, women officers have taken part in war games when foreign contingents visited India. However, this would be the first time women officers will be representing India abroad.  From January 16 to January 26, Veer Guardian 2023 will take place in Japan at the Hyakuri Air Base and its surrounding airspace in Omitama as well as the Iruma Air Base in Sayama. According to Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth who is Avani Chaturvedi's classmate and one of the first three female fighter pilots, the Su-30MKIs used by the Indian Air Force are among the greatest and most lethal vehicles equipped with indigenous weapon systems. A flexible multirole combat aircraft, the Su-30MKi is capable of performing simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. This aircraft is special in that it can perform maneuvers at both high and low speeds. It can perform extremely long-range missions and has high endurance, said Squadron Leader Bhavna Kanth. The aircraft has state-of-the-art avionics and is capable of integrating any of the newest weaponry and performing missions, she added.