Republican Senator Martha McSally, the first US female fighter pilot to fly in combat, has said that she was "preyed upon and raped" by a superior officer while she served in the Air Force.

The Arizona Senator, 52, made the revelation during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military, CNN reported. McSally said she did not immediately report the rape as she distrusted the system. She did not offer any details about the assaults or name the senior officer who she said raped her.