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

View in Grid

DatesRank & NameNumberRemarksLocationPhoto
01 Feb 85 to 17 Feb 85Wing Commander Virendra Kumar Chawla7408 GD(P)COSrinagar
18 Feb 85 to 09 Nov 86Wing Commander Pradeep Kumar Yadav9042 GD(P)COSrinagar
20 Nov 86 to 23 Sep 87Wing Commander Ramesh Chander Gosain9447 GD(P)COSrinagar
24 Sep 87 to 24 Sep 89Wing Commander Shiv Kumar Bhan12510 GD(P)COSrinagar
25 Sep 89 to 03 Jan 91Wing Commander Kanwar Bharatendra Singh12197 GD(P)COSrinagar
04 Jan 91 to 25 Apr 93Wing Commander Bhupinder Pal Singh12772 GD(P)COSrinagar
26 Apr 93 to 15 Mar 95Wing Commander Sashi Prakash Ojha13394 F(P)COSrinagar
16 Mar 95 to 25 Nov 96Wing Commander Rakesh Kumar Jolly14083 F(P)COSrinagar
26 Nov 96 to 21 Jun 99Wing Commander Pradeep Singh Randhawa15035 F(P)COSrinagar
22 Jun 99 to 13 Sep 01Wing Commander Nalin Kumar Tandon16030 F(P)COSrinagar
14 Sep 01 to 14 Jul 03Wing Commander Rakesh Rastogi16974 F(P)COSrinagar
15 Jul 03 to 24 Jul 05Wing Commander Om Nirmal Kumar17440 F(P)COSrinagar
25 Jul 05 to 25 Aug 07Wing Commander Shailendra Sharma19189 F(P)COSrinagar

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.