Aero India 2025: India's first and only woman Rafale pilot Shivangi Singh to lead Shakti formation

Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, the first and only woman pilot to fly the Rafale fighter aircraft, will lead the Shakti Formation, comprising one Rafale and two Sukhoi fighter jets, at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India 2025, kicking off on Monday at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru.

Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, will also fly in the Tejas formation flanked by two aircraft. On Sunday, in a first, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi flew in the indigenously developed Tejas fighter aircraft.

Seen as a step towards greater jointness in the armed forces, the sortie began at 1:30 pm and lasted for 45 minutes.

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One of the largest events of its kind in Asia, Aero India 2025 is a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru, organized by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence.

ACM AP Singh was in the pilot seat, while Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi was in the co-pilot seat. In 2024, the Vice Chiefs of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force made history by flying in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.

Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) Air Marshal AP Singh flew the lead fighter, while Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani, and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, flew in the Tejas twin-seater over the skies of Jodhpur.

They flew on the sidelines of Exercise Tarang Shakti 2024, India’s first multi-national exercise aimed at enhancing interoperability and operational coordination among participating Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs).

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