India's first woman pilot Avani Chaturvedi to fly Indian Sukhoi fighter jet in aerial wargames in Japan

Squadron leader Avani Chaturvedi, the first female fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), is scheduled to participate in the inaugural air exercise Veer Guardian 2023. The exercise is intended to strengthen bilateral air defence cooperation between India-Japan.

This would mark the first occasion that women officers would be representing the nation abroad. The women officers have been taking part in wargames with foreign contingents coming to India, including the French Air Force, where two of the female fighter pilots participated.

Veer Guardian 2023 will be held in Japan from January 16 to January 26 at the Hyakuri Air Base and its surrounding airspace in Omitama, as well as the Iruma Air Base in Sayama.

Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi's coursemate and one of the first three female fighter pilots and a flier of Su-30MKI fighter jets, stated, “Su-30MKIs operated by the Indian Air Force are one of the best and most lethal platforms armed with indigenous weapon systems.”

“The Su-30MKi is a versatile multirole combat aircraft which can carry out both air-to-ground and air-to-air missions simultaneously. What is unique about this aircraft is that it can carry out manoeuvres at both high speeds and low speeds. It also has the capability of doing very long-range missions and has long endurance,” Squadron Leader Bhavna Kanth said.

She went on to say that the aircraft has cutting-edge avionics and can easily integrate any of the latest weapons and carry out missions.