No.51 Squadron Sword Arms

Motto : Yudhya Mahaspara Bhayankara
Date Raised : 1985-02-01 Disbanded : 2022-09-30
No. 51 Squadron. known as Swordarms was raised at Chandigarh on 01 Feb 1985. The squadron was initially equipped with Mig-21 Type-75 and later converted the MIG-21 Bison Jan 2004. The crest of the Squadron portrays a pair of muscular arms firmly clasping a sword. depicting the motto “Vijyay Prakrarnan” which means 'Valour for Victory' Since its inception. the Squadron has lived up " "to its motto in various exercises. operations and campaigns. Swordarms participated during Op Safed Sagar (Kargil campaign) in 1999 and was conferred with one Vayu Sena Medal and three Mention-in-Dispatches for its effective contribution. During Operation Parakram the Squadron was tasked with the Air Defence Of Kashmir valley. In October 2008 Swordarms created history by undertaking for the first time ever fighter night ops at Udhampur airfield. The Sqn was first to fire over Toshe Maiden range and first to activate Kharbutang Range. For it's meritorious and glorious service to the nation in such a " "short span of time since it's inception, the squadron was awarded the President's Standards on 22nd March 2018. The squadron was once again tasked to defend the Kashmir Valley post the Balakot Air Strike in 2019.

Aircraft Types operated over the years:

Commanding Officers


01 Feb 85 - 17 Feb 85
Wing Commander
Virendra Kumar Chawla
7408 GD(P)
CO
Srinagar

18 Feb 85 - 09 Nov 86
Wing Commander
Pradeep Kumar Yadav
9042 GD(P)
CO
Srinagar

20 Nov 86 - 23 Sep 87
Wing Commander
Ramesh Chander Gosain
9447 GD(P)
CO
Srinagar

24 Sep 87 - 24 Sep 89
Wing Commander
Shiv Kumar Bhan
12510 GD(P)
CO
Srinagar

25 Sep 89 - 03 Jan 91
Wing Commander
Kanwar Bharatendra Singh
12197 GD(P)
CO
Srinagar

04 Jan 91 - 25 Apr 93
Wing Commander
Bhupinder Pal Singh
12772 GD(P)
CO
Srinagar

26 Apr 93 - 15 Mar 95
Wing Commander
Sashi Prakash Ojha
13394 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

16 Mar 95 - 25 Nov 96
Wing Commander
Rakesh Kumar Jolly
14083 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

26 Nov 96 - 21 Jun 99
Wing Commander
Pradeep Singh Randhawa
15035 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

22 Jun 99 - 13 Sep 01
Wing Commander
Nalin Kumar Tandon
16030 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

14 Sep 01 - 14 Jul 03
Wing Commander
Rakesh Rastogi
16974 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

15 Jul 03 - 24 Jul 05
Wing Commander
Om Nirmal Kumar
17440 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

25 Jul 05 - 25 Aug 07
Wing Commander
Shailendra Sharma
19189 F(P)
CO
Srinagar

Note: All the data available here is publicly available in the Gazette of India, published by the Indian Government, or from public domain sources, press releases about Awards and Right-To-Information (RTI) Requests. Additionally data shared by veterans is added to the page with permission. No data with respect to serving officers below the rank of AVM is displayed. Information in Gazette of India and Award citations and photographs as released by the Indian Air Force are the only details displayed.