IAF No 18 Squadron to be made operational at Sulur station with Tejas supersonic aircraft

COIMBATORE: The recently resurrected No 18 Squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be made operational at Air Force Station in Sulur on Wednesday with the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, will operationalise the No 18 Squadron ‘Flying Bullets’ at an event to be conducted at the Sulur Air Force Station near Coimbatore. The Squadron will be equipped with LCA Tejas with final operational clearance (FOC) aircraft and will be the second IAF squadron to fly LCA Tejas supersonic aircraft.
The 18 Squadron was formed on April 15, 1965 with the motto ‘Teevra aur Nirbhaya’ meaning ‘swift and fearless’. The Squadron was flying MiG 27 aircraft before it got number plated on April15, 2016. The squadron was resurrected on April 01, 2020 at Sulur Air Force station.
The squadron actively participated in the 1971 war with Pakistan and was decorated with the highest gallantry award ‘Param Vir Chakra’ awarded to Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon posthumously. It earned the sobriquet of ‘Defenders of Kashmir Valley’ by being the first to land and operate from Srinagar. The Squadron was presented with President’s Standard in November 2015.
Tejas is an indigenous fourth generation tailless compound delta wing aircraft. The aircraft is equipped with fly-by-wire flight control system, integrated digital avionics, multimode radar and its structure is made out of composite material. It is the lightest and smallest in its group of fourth generation supersonic combat aircraft.