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Who is Squadron Leader Priya Sharma, the IAF woman pilot who will fly MiG-21 at send-off ceremony?
A 2018 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, Squadron Leader Sharma is only the 7th woman fighter pilot of the IAF.
Chief of the Air Staff AP Singh and Squadron Leader Priya Sharma. (Photo: Indian Air Force)
On Friday, September 26, when six Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-21 BISONs will take off and land for the last time at Air Force Station, Chandigarh, it will bring the curtains down on a legendary run that lasted over six decades.
Air Chief Marshal AP Singh will fly one of the MiG-21s in different formations at the decommissioning ceremony. Among the six IAF pilots to fly the lost sortie is a woman fighter pilot, Squadron Leader Priya Sharma.
Who is Squadron Leader Priya Sharma
A 2018 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, Squadron Leader Sharma is only the seventh woman fighter pilot of the IAF. She received her graduation certificate from the then Army Chief Bipin Rawat, and officially became the part of IAF as a Flying Officer.
Priya Sharma followed in her father’s footsteps to become an IAF officer. (Photo: ANI/ File)
Hailing from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, Priya Sharma followed in her father’s footsteps to become an IAF officer.
An engineer by qualification, Sharma was the only woman fighter pilot in the 2018 batch and was initially posted at the Hakimpet Air Force Station in Hyderabad, followed by the Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka, where she underwent Stage 2 and Stage 3 advanced training.
According to Squadron Leader Sharma, she was inspired to become a fighter pilot after seeing Jaguars and Hawk aircraft flying since her childhood, when her father was posted in the Air Force station Bidar.
Squadron Leader Priya Sharma at MiG-21 farewell
In August this year, Squadron Leader Sharma also flew in formation during the IAF Chief’s MiG-21 farewell sorties at the Nal Air Force Station, Bikaner.
#WATCH | Nal Air Base, Bikaner, Rajasthan: Ahead of the official retirement of the MiG-21 fighter planes, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and pilots take a few sorties in the aircraft. pic.twitter.com/VHulY3ObHE
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2025
On Friday, Sqn Ldr Priya Sharma will once again join the Chief of the Air Staff and other IAF pilots as the MiG-21’s take to the sky for one last time.
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