Indian Air Force will participate in a multi-nation air exercise named 'Ex Cobra Warrior 22' at Waddington, the UK from 06 to 27 Mar 22. IAF Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will participate in the exercise along with fighter aircraft of the UK and other leading Air Forces.
The exercise is aimed at providing operational exposure and sharing of best practices amongst the participating Air Forces, thereby enhancing combat capability and forging bonds of friendship. This will be a platform for LCA Tejas to demonstrate its manoeuvrability and operational capability.
Five Tejas aircraft will fly to the United Kingdom. IAF C-17 aircraft will provide the necessary transport support for induction and de-induction.
No.45 Squadron was formed on 20 Nov 1959 at AFS Palam. The squadron emblem of Dagger with Wings was formally approved on 16th Sep 61. Equipped with British made Vampire, it was put under the command of Sqn Ldr MS Grewal as its first Commanding Officer. The Squadron motto is 'Ajeetakshay' which means ‘Invincible in the Sky'.
On the very first day 1965 war, operating out of Pathankot, the Vampires halted the Pak Armour thrust in the Chamb-Jhurian sector by completely destroying 10 Patton tanks and putting out of action some enemy armoured vehicles. In 1966 the squadron added Mig 21's to its inventory. In the 1971 war, the squadron played an important role and was able to carry out all the tasks assigned to it during the operations. In the months following the Kargil War,
on 10 Aug 1999, a two aircraft mission from the squadron callsign 251 was scrambled from Naliya in the Kutchh (Gujarat) sector against an intruding enemy aircraft. Sqn Ldr PK Bundela and Fg Offr Narayanan successfully shot down the intruding Atlantique aircraft.
On 01 Jul 2016, the squadron was re-equipped with the indigenous Tejas aircraft at Bengaluru and on Jul 18 the sqn moved to Air Force Station Sulur, its present location.
In Mar 2019, the squadron participated in Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2019 at Langkawi Malaysia. On Feb 21, it participated in 70th Sri Lankan Air Force Day. The unit participated in Dubai Air Show on Nov 21 and in Singapore Airshow on Feb 22.
The squadron celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in Nov 2019.
