Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
Lucknow: In a watershed moment for India’s armed forces, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh stood resolute at the high-profile media briefing in New Delhi on Wednesday, detailing the precision strikes of Operation Sindoor with unwavering composure. As she addressed national and international media alongside the Indian Army’s Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and the foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, the decorated helicopter pilot from Lucknow embodied the changing face of India’s military leadership.
The operation – a calibrated response to the heinous terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives on 22 April – targeted nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The strikes, executed in the early hours of Wednesday, significantly degraded the operational capabilities of terror outfits including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed, the Indian military said.
For Wg Cdr Singh, now in her early 40s, the journey to this pivotal moment began in a classroom in Lucknow during the early 1990s. “I was in Class VI when the eureka moment happened,” she revealed in a recent interview. “We were discussing the meaning of names in class, and my name is Vyomika, Vyom means sky, and a girl shouted, ‘You are Vyomika, which means you own the sky’. Since that day, I wanted to be a pilot.”
That childhood epiphany set her on a remarkable trajectory. After joining the National Cadet Corps during her school years, Wg Cdr Singh pursued engineering, laying the technical foundation for her aviation career. In 2004, she was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as part of the 21st Short Service Commission (Women), becoming the first in her family to don a military uniform.
Her ascent through the ranks was swift and impressive. By 2017, just 13 years after commissioning, she was promoted to the rank of wing commander. Two years later, on December 18, 2019, she received a permanent commission in the flying branch, a testament to her exceptional service record.
With more than 2,500 flying hours to her credit, Wg Cdr Singh has mastered the controls of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters in some of India’s most challenging terrains. From the snow-capped mountains of Jammu & Kashmir to the remote valleys of the northeast, she has navigated treacherous conditions with remarkable skill.
In November 2020, she led a critical rescue operation in Arunachal Pradesh, negotiating harsh weather and high altitudes to save lives. “I have done a lot of casualty evacuation and made decisions of leaving one person and taking another and then coming back the next day while negotiating with the weather,” Wg Cdr Singh explained, offering a glimpse into the high-stakes decisions that define her career.
Her versatility extends beyond the cockpit. In 2021, Wg Cdr Singh participated in a triservices all-women mountaineering expedition to Mount Manirang, conquering the 21,650-foot peak. This achievement earned recognition from senior defence officials, including the chief of air staff.
Now married to a fellow IAF pilot, Wg Cdr Singh’s life represents the perfect fusion of personal commitment and national service. At the Operation Sindoor briefing, her authoritative presence and precise delivery underscored a significant evolution in India’s military communication strategy.
As she affirmed India’s preparedness to respond to any further provocations, Wg Cdr Singh did more than convey operational details-she represented the culmination of a journey that began with a young girl’s dream in Lucknow and led to the national stage, where she now stands as a powerful symbol of India’s “Nari Shakti” (women empowerment) in uniform.
In the skies and now before the world’s media, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh has truly lived up to her name-the daughter of the sky who grew up to own it.
