Who Is Avani Chaturvedi? India's First Woman Fighter Pilot To Participate In Wargame Abroad

Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi created history by becoming the first Indian woman fighter pilot to fly Su-30MKI in an aerial wargame abroad.

New Delhi: Avani Chaturvedi, a name that marks the milestone of the Indian Air Force's work towards gender equality and resounds the meaning of women empowerment. In June 2016, Avani Chaturvedi became India's one of the first female fighter pilots along with Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh.

The feat of the most recognizable woman of the Indian Ari Force did not stop at being the first female fighter pilot, on February 19, 2018, Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman to fly the MiG 21 Bison, solo.

Avani Chaturvedi's Education

Squadron leader Avani Chaturvedi was born and brought up in Madhya Pradesh and did her schooling there. She did Bachelor's degree in Technology from Vidyapith, a university in rural Rajasthan’s Tonk district, that is providing the most advanced programs to its students. While pursuing her B.Tech degree, Chaturvedi learned aviation as an additional discipline at the campus aviation school.

Avani Chaturvedi's Family Background

Chaturvedi aspired to be a fighter pilot in times when there was still a reservation among the many people of IAF about having female air force personnel let alone fighter pilots. However, the defence family of Avani's provided her unconditional support to achieve the ambitious feat that now inspires hundreds of thousands of young girls to fly high in the sky leaving behind the prejudice that combat is a male space.

Avani Chaturvedi's Training 

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

Chaturvedi Continues To Achieve 

In January 2023, Squadron leader Avani Chaturvedi became the first female IAF pilot to be part of wargames abroad after she participated in  Veer Guardian 2023 which was 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.

Exercise Veer Guardian 2023

Su30MKI of #IAF and F2 of #JASDF posing together for 1st bilateral exercise between the two nations.#IADN pic.twitter.com/8BZF11ZQO7 — Indian Aerospace Defence News - IADN (@NewsIADN) January 13, 2023

Avani Chaturvedi, IAF's first woman fighter jet pilot to fly Su-30MKI in aerial wargame abroad.#exveerguardian2023 #IADN pic.twitter.com/aGebEqPrn9

— Indian Aerospace Defence News - IADN (@NewsIADN) February 8, 2023

Avani Chaturvedi Received Nari Shakti Puraskar  

In 2020, President Ram Nath Kovind awarded Avani Chaturvedi Nari Shakti Puraskar along with Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh after they became the first Indian women fighter pilots to fly a MIG-21 Bison.

The flier of Su-30MKI fighter jet, Avani Chaturvedi says it is one of the best and most lethal platforms armed with indigenous weapon systems. Talking to the news agency ANI, Avani Chaturvedi once said, " The best part of being a pilot is that you are flying an aircraft - it is a machine. The aircraft does not know who is sitting behind it, so the machine will behave in the same way it would behave with a male pilot,"