25.11.2020.

Serbian Armed Forces get first female “Eagle“ attack aircraft pilot

Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Neboša Stefanović, PhD, attended Captain Ana Perišić’s first solo flight on an “Eagle“ (Orao) aircraft. She is the first female pilot to fly an attack aircraft in the history of our armed forces. Minister Stefanović said that he was proud of the fact that a woman had become an attack aircraft pilot and that she could become equally or even more successful than any man in performing such tasks at any moment.

Having performed a successful control flight at the military airport “Morava“ in Ladjevci, Captain Ana Perišić was congratulated by Minister Stefanović and her colleagues from the 98th Air Brigade’s 241st Fighter-Bomber Squadron.

- I am glad that this is the case and that new generations of young women from our country can make their careers in fighter aviation and other most complex services and units of the Serbian Armed Forces - said Minister Stefanović, adding that he was grateful to Ana for the opportunity to see a very successful pilot today. Her commanding officers and experts assessed her flight as very successful and decided that she was ready to move on to solo flights now.

Minister Stefanović said that he also had the opportunity to visit the 98th Air Brigadetoday, a unit that could be described as the guardian of our sky.

- This is not an easy job. It is a job in which pilots and auxiliary staff, we must not forget all technicians and people who help pilots in everyday activities and perform aircraft maintenance, in which they have to undergo countless hours of training in order to be able to operate complex systems and be what they are – people who defend our country and who are ready to take off at any moment and fight for Serbia – emphasized Minister Stefanović.

He was also grateful for the opportunity to see Mi-35 helicopters procured by our armed forces, as well as the “Eagle“ aircraft.

- I would like to thank General Bilić and the entire unit for a really warm welcome and an exhaustive report on all the problems and challenges, but also on the things that were done successfully in the past period which is why this unit is what it is – said Minister Stefanović.

Captain Ana Perišić, member of the 98th Air Brigade’s 241st Fighter-Bomber Squadron who completed training in flying “Supergaleb G4” (Super Seagull) is successfully completing a retraining as an “Eagle” aircraft pilot. Speaking about her impressions after her first solo flight, she pointed out that it was difficult to express them in words. When asked how she felt as the first female pilot to achieve that, she said that it was a task that she wastrying to execute as best as she could.

- The flight was safe and I am really satisfied with how I managed to do it. It will be a great challenge to fly this aircraft on my own, after the control flight – emphasized Captain Ana Perišić who belongs to the first generation of female pilots who were educated for this profession at the Military Academy.

In addition to Minister Stefanović, the Deputy Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence, Brigadier General ŽeljkoBilić also visited members of the 98th Air Brigade. During the visit at the military airport “Morava” near Kraljevo, this unit’s Deputy Commander, Colonel Aleksandar Milićević gave a briefing on this unit’s purpose and tasks, and Minister Stefanović also saw the recently procured aircraft owned by this unit and talked to the pilots and technical staff of the 241st Fighter-Bomber Squadron.