Marija Jovanovich

Marija Jovanovich, (born 1982) is an Australian military test pilot and the most senior female pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Jovanovich has over 3,300 hours of flight experience, in over 30 different types of aircraft. She commanded No. 10 Squadron RAAF from December 2020 to December 2023. Jovanovich is the second female pilot in RAAF’s history to take command of a flying unit.

Early life Born in Kruševac, Yugoslavia, in 1982, Jovanovich is the eldest of three daughters of surgeons Snežana and Aleksandar Jovanovich. The family left Yugoslavia in 1995 to escape from the Yugoslav Wars, and settled in New Zealand. Jovanovich arrived not knowing any English. She attended high school in Auckland and first began learning to fly in a Cessna 152 at the Walsh Memorial Flying School in Matamata. In 1999, beginning with her father Aleksandar, the family began moving to Australia; Jovanovich followed later in the year, after graduating from high school. After graduating from ADFA and pilot training, she flew the P3 Orion on operations and exercises all over the world, including the Middle East, US, Asia, and Southwest Pacific. She earned her Masters in Systems Engineering in 2013. She was the first Australian in 25 years to complete the course.

Jovanovich was promoted to the rank of group captain in 2023, becoming the first female pilot in the RAAF to achieve this rank. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2025 Australia Day Honours.

Awards 2019 – Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) for meritorious achievement and devotion to duty as the initial Commander of Task Element 629.3.1.1 during operation PHILIPPINES ASSIST, supporting the liberation of Marawi. 2025 – Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours.