Crest: The crest of the "FLYING BULLETS" depicts a bullet with wings, ahead of which is a "SHOCK WAVE" indicating the supersonic speeds at which the aircraft flies. At the top is the "ASHOKA STAMBHA" which is borrowed from the famous "ASHOKA PILLAR". At the bottom is inscribed the motto of the squadron `THEEVRA AUR NIRBHAY’ or `SWIFT AND FEARLESS’. The squadron aims to hold high this motto in its march to excellence in all future assignments..

Brief History: The `Flying Bullets' or 18 Sqn AF was formed on 15 April 1965 at Ambala with five Gnat aircraft and eleven pilots. Wg Cdr AL Michael was the first Commanding Officer of the squadron.

The squadron operated at Ambala till Aug 71 after which it moved to Srinagar and remained there till the end of hostilities of the 1971Indo-Pak War. In Jan 72 it moved back to Ambala and there after moved to Srinagar once again in Feb 75 where it converted to Ajeets. The squadron remained at Srinagar till Jan 85 and then moved to Sulur and then to Bagdogra in Feb 88 after which it moved to Hindan in May 89 to convert to its present aircraft the MiG-27 ML. The squadron moved out of Hindan to its present location at Kalaikunda in Apr 96.

18 Sqn AF is one of the younger squadrons of the Air Force having its origins after the Chinese aggression of the sixties. It was formed, as the need was perceived to increase the effective fighting strength of the Indian Air Force in view of the conflicts that could ensue in the future or at least as a deterrent to hostilities.

The `Flying Bullets’ had its first taste of battle in the December 71 operations against Pakistan to liberate Bangladesh, or East Pakistan, as it was known, at that time. Though the squadron existed at the time of 1965 Indo-Pak conflict it did not take part as a squadron, but did in spirit with its pilots and aircraft being attached to 2 and 9 squadrons. Sqn Ldr KL Khanna of this squadron was awarded a Vayu Sena Medal during this conflict.

The primary task given to the 'Flying Bullets' was the Defence of Kashmir Valley during the 1971 operations. For this the squadron was moved from Ambala to Srinagar where it would remain for about a month after the hostilities between the two countries ended. The detachment consisted of four aircraft, seventeen officers and seventy-two men commanded by Wg Cdr P Raina.

The first operational mission got airborne on the fourth of December 1971. An approaching raid, scrambled a CAP of two Gnats, however the strike was not spotted and a continuous CAP was maintained for almost the whole day.

On the Seventh of December 1971 Flt Lt BN Bopaya and Fg Offr NJS Sekhon escorted Vampires to Poonch sector just north of Hajira. Gnats strafed enemy positions after the Vampires had delivered their weapons. Escort missions were again undertaken on the eighth with Vampires being escorted to Kargil sector by Wg Cdr Raina and Flt Lt Ghuman. The escorting Gnats strafed enemy bunkers. The first dogfight took place on the sixth of December. The CAP controller spotted four Sabres and Flt Lt BN Bopaya positioned ideally behind them for a kill. The ack-ack opened up at that moment and he had to pull out, out of the ack-ack range. Sqn Ldr Pathania ignoring the ack-ack manoeuvred to position behind the No 2 of the Sabre formation, while Bopaya also ignored the flak and got behind a Sabre that turned out to be the same one Sqn Ldr Pathania was behind, so he broke off. Sqn Ldr Pathania gave a small burst, only his port gun fired but he however scored a hit on the Sabre who punched his drop tanks and broke left. Realising that one of his gun had stopped he fired judicious bursts from the other gun. The Sabre was now seen emitting smoke. At this stage the other gun also stopped firing. He stayed on the Sabres' tail and attempted to guide Bopaya onto him, however due to failing light, lack of runway lights and the runway having being damaged by the bombing, the pair had to return and land on the short undamaged part of the runway. The same day Flt Lt BS Ghuman and Fg Offr RV Phadke escorted Vampires to Hajira and successfully helped in destroying an enemy brigade HQ. Flt Lt Naliyan and Fg Offr VK Sharma also flew their and their squadrons’ first mission into enemy territory, escorting the Vampires into Poonch. The mission was an absolute success.

The fourteenth of December 1971, was a red-letter day in the history of the squadron and the Indian Air Force. No CAP had been mounted due to poor visibility. Flt Lt Ghuman and Fg Offr Sekhon were scrambled. Ghuman and Sekhon rolled without ATC clearance. By this time first of the Sabres was commencing his dive. Ghuman got airborne and as Sekhon unstuck the first bombs impacted on the runway behind him. Ghuman turned left after take off to position himself behind the Sabres. Sekhon headed straight after take off, made contact with two Sabres who had bombed the airfield. By this time, the CAP controllers, Y Singh and David had no visual contact with Sekhon as the entire sector West, into which he had gone was obscured by the dust and smoke kicked up by the exploding bombs. Ghuman tried in vain to assist him but could not be vectored on to the combat due to very poor visibility and extremely fluid positions of the aircraft in combat. The R/T transmission received by the CAP controller from Sekhon was as follows ` I am behind two Sabres. I won’t let the bastards get away'. A little later a Gnat gun burst was heard. One Sabre was seen going out of control with his right wing on fire trailing thick smoke. Sekhon then transmitted, ` I'm in a circle of joy but with two Sabres. I am getting behind one but the other is getting an edge on me.' At this stage another Gnat burst was heard followed by a short Sabre burst followed by another extremely long Sabre burst. After this Sekhon transmitted `I think I have been hit, Ghuman come and get them.' This was Sekhon’s last transmission. Sekhon ejected but he was too low, as the fight had come down to extremely low level. Though the seat had separated the parachute did not deploy owing to insufficient height. Sekhon lost his life fighting bravely and valiantly.

Fg Offr NJS Sekhon was decorated with the highest gallantry award of the Nation, the PARAM VIR CHAKRA for the sublime heroism, supreme gallantry, flying skill and determination above and beyond the call of duty displayed in the face of certain death. The award was presented to Mrs Manjit Sekhon, the widow of Fg Offr NJS Sekhon by President VV Giri at the 26th January 1972 Republic Day Parade.

The erstwhile bane of the Sabres the Gnats, were phased out in Feb 75 when the squadron moved to Srinagar. The Ajeets, an HAL version of the former took their place. The next change was in May 89 after the squadron had spent a little more than a year at Hindan. The squadron then changed over to the formidable MiG-27s, an all weather strike aircraft of Russian origin.

The MiG-27s are the most powerful single engine strike aircraft in world today, it is a variable geometry aircraft optimised for a strike role with a substantial load carrying capacity. The conversion was significant, as this implied a change over from the squadron’s former role of air defence to ground attack. The present location of the squadron is at Kalaikunda where it moved to in Apr 96. The Sqn has been designated as the first dedicated night strike Sqn of the IAF w.e.f Sep 96. The Sqn was designated as the best fighter Sqn of EAC for 1999-2000.