Gwalior airfield was constructed just before WWII and commisioned around 1940. At the start of WWII, the airfield was occupied by RAF Sqn commanded by Sqn ldr Shephard. Towards the end of the war, No. 7 Sqn, IAF was briefly situated here under Sqn ldr Hassan. Towards 1949-50, Maharajpur (Gwalior) was approved to be setup as 5 Wing, IAF to be home to the No. 5 Heavy Bomber Sqn of the IAF. However, the project did not fructify and Maharajpur did not become a flying base.

In 1962, no. 3 AFSB was raised here and started functioning from the residency complex. AFSB moved out in Sep 1965. 2 BRD came up in April 1963 and 34 ED to support it. Between 1982 and 1986, 11 Sqn made Gwalior its home.

40 Wing was officially formed on 28 nov 1982. The station upgraded its facilities over the next few years to accomodate the Mirage-2000 sqns that made Gwalior its home from 1985-86 onwards. G/C PK Mani was frist stn cdr in early 80s.