AF’s second LCA squadron to spread wings from Sulur in T.N. on Wednesday

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria to operationalise the unit

Tamil Nadu’s Sulur-based ‘Flying Bullets’, No.18 squadron of Indian Air Force, will become the second squadron of IAF to operate indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) on Wednesday.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, will operationalise the second squadron in an event scheduled to be held at Air Force Station Sulur near Coimbatore on Wednesday.

The second squadron will be equipped with LCA in Final Operations Clearance (FOC) standard, a version that has advanced flight control systems and other features.

‘Flying Daggers’ or the No. 45 Squadron, the first squadron armoured with Tejas is also based at Sulur. The squadron which was shifted from Bengaluru to Sulur became operational in 2018.

With the operationalisation of the second squadron and being home station for India’s most advanced supersonic fighter aircraft, Sulur will become a strategically important base of the IAF under its Southern Air Command based at Thiruvananthapuram.

Sulur will also become the only base of IAF to be equipped with two squadrons that fly Tejas.

No. 18 Squadron was formed on April 15, 1965 with the motto ‘Teevra aur Nirbhaya’ meaning ‘Swift and Fearless’.

It was flying MiG 27 aircraft before it got number plated on April 15, 2016 and was resurrected on April 1 this year at Sulur.

It actively participated in the 1971 war with Pakistan and its Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was honoured with the highest gallantry award ‘Param Vir Chakra’ posthumously.

It earned the sobriquet of ‘Defenders of Kashmir Valley’ by being the first to land and operate from Srinagar and was awarded President’s Standard in November 2015.