Sub Lieutenant Aastha Punia Height, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Other Name	Aastha Poonia
Profession	India Navy Officer
Famous for	Being the first woman fighter pilot of Indian Navy
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)	5' 6" (168 cm)
Weight (approx.)	55 Kg (121 lbs)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Indian Navy
Batch	2023
Awards	Wings of Gold in 2025
Personal Life
Birthplace	Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Meerut
School	S.D. Inter College, Civil Lines,Muzaffarnagar
College/University	Banasthali Vidyapith (Banasthali University), Tonk, Rajasthan (2019-2023)
Educational Qualification	Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering (B.Tech CSE)
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Jat
Social Media	LinkedIn
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Family
Parents	Father- Arun Punia (Maths teacher in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sardhana, Meerut) Mother- Sanyogita Chaudhary (Principal of a primary school in Baghra, Muzaffarnagar)
Siblings	Brother- Harshvardhan Punia (Student, younger)
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)	Basic pay scale (56k- 177k)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aastha Punia

• Aastha Punia hails from Hisawada (or Hisavada) village in Khekada tehsil of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh.

• She had an interest in flying since her childhood.

• She later completed her 12th standard education in the non-medical stream (Physics, Math, and Chemistry).

• While pursuing her graduation from Banasthali Vidyapith, she did a 6-month internship from July 2022 to December 2022 at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Ministry of Defence of the Indian Government.
  

  Aastha Punia (in blue) during her graduation

• Between May 2023 and June 2023, she did 2 2-month SDE internship at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), Hyderabad.

• She appeared for the Army Entry exam (Technical entry) in 2023 and was selected for the Indian Navy.
  

  Aastha Punia (extreme left) upon her selection in the Indian Navy

• She then trained for 2 years at the Indian Naval Academy (INA) in Ezhimala, Kerala.
  

  Aastha Punia during her training in the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala

• On 3 July 2025, she became the first woman to be streamed into the fighter stream of Naval Aviation.

• The announcement was made during the graduation ceremony of the Second Basic Hawk Conversion Course at INS Dega, Visakhapatnam

• She will have to complete 1 year of training after which she would qualify for the fighter stream of naval aviation and may fly the MiG-29K or Rafale M fighter jet off the Navy’s aircraft carriers.

• She also received the Wings of Gold from Rear Admiral Janak Bevli, ACNS (Air).

• His family also attended the ceremony. Her father, Arun Punia, later said that during her childhood, she used to come on the roof whenever she heard an aeroplane and told him that she would also fly a plane one day.
  

  Aastha Punia with her parents and brother