IAF to operationalise second Tejas squadron in Sulur in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday

Indian Air Force will operationalise its second squron comprising indigeusly developed light combat aircraft Tejas on Wednesday at Sulur airbase near Coimbatore.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhauria will operationalise 18 Squron which is codenamed ‘Flying Bullets’.

" squron will be equipped with light combat aircraft Tejas aircraft and it will be second IAF squron to fly Tejas," an IAF spokesperson said.

Tejas is a fourth generation combat aircraft developed by Aeronautical Development ncy and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

It is equipped with fly-by-wire flight control system, integrated digital avionics and multimode rar.

Indian Air Force has alrey placed an order for 40 Tejas aircraft and is likely to seal a contract very soon with HAL for ar 83 aircraft at a cost of around Rs 38,000 crore.

18 squron was formed in 1965 with motto ‘Teevra aur Nirbhaya’ meaning ‘Swift and Fearless’. squron was flying MiG 27 aircraft before it was number plated or decommissioned April 15, 2016.

squron was resurrected on April 1 at Sulur. It actively participated in 1971 war with Pakistan. It earned sobriquet of ‘Defenders of Kashmir Valley’ by being first to land and operate from Srinagar.

Squron was presented with President’s Standard in vember 2015.