Tejas squadron to be shifted to Sulur air base in July

The Flying Daggers or the No. 45 Squadron which operates the indigenously developed supersonic fighter aircraft Tejas will be shifted from Bengaluru to the Sulur Air Force station based in Coimbatore in July.

With this, the Flying Daggers will become the first fighter squadron to be a part of the Southern Air Command of the IAF headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram. Highly reliable sources told The Hindu that the No. 45 Squadron, which operated in Bengaluru for two years after the induction of Tejas into it in July 2016, will be permanently moved to the Sulur Air Force station in the first week of July.

Flying Daggers was last equipped with MiG-21 Bis aircraft and the squadron operated from Nalia in Gujarat before it was shifted to Bengaluru in July 2016, when Tejas replaced the Russian-made interceptor under the Light Compact Aircraft (LCA) programme. Tejas has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

The Sulur Air Force station is gearing up with various activities to equip itself to accommodate the wing. An LCA simulator to train novice fighter pilots to fly Tejas will be set up at the air base for which work has already begun, said sources.

The air force station is also gearing up for the visit of President Ram Nath Kovind next year. The President’s Standard will be presented to Air Force Station Hakimpet based in Hyderabad and 5 BRD (No 5 Base Repair Depot) based at the Air Force Station, Sulur, for their meritorious services.

thehindu