From ‘Winged Swords’ to ‘Flying Daggers’, the Tejas Squadron

BENGALURU: IAF Squadron number 45, the Flying Daggers is now officially squadron for the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas aircraft.
However, when it was first raised on February 13, 1957 (some 26 years before Tejas was even conceived), it was called the ‘Winged Swords’ and flew the British-built ‘De Havilland Vampire’ aircraft.
It first participated in the 1965 Indo-Pak War and was, in fact, tasked with the first strike mission of the conflict in Chhamb Sector.
Following this war, the squadron was equipped with the ‘Gnat’ aircraft, which earned itself the name ‘Sabre Slayer’ by the end of the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

From there, the squadron evolved and become the main MiG 21 Bison Squadron, which saw action in Kargil (1999). The squadron was number plated (as 45) in 2002.