IAF chief RKS Bhadauria flies LCA Tejas, operationalises No. 18 Squadron ‘Flying Bullets’
Jammu: Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on May 27 flew the single-seater Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at the Sulur Air Force Station in Tamil Nadu.
The Air Chief Marshal also operationalised No. 18 Squadron ‘Flying Bullets’ at the Sulur airbase. The Squadron will be equipped with indigenously developed Tejas FOC aircraft. It is the second IAF squadron to fly LCA Tejas.IAF has reportedly inducted 16 weaponised Tejas jets into its combat fleet since June 2018.
The squadron was formed on April 15, 1965 and used to operate MIG-27 fighter jets. However, it was withdrawn from service in April 2016. It was resurrected on April 1.No. 18 Squadron ‘Flying Bullets’ had participated in the 1971 India- Pakistan war. A ‘Param Vir Chakra’ was awarded to Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon posthumously. It was the first squadron to land and operate from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.