No. 45 Squadron IAF was formed on 15 Feb 1960 with the British built De Havilland Vampire. The Squadron was christened as "Flying Daggers' with its motto being 'Ajeetakshay". The Squadron was the first to draw enemy blood when it took part in the Indo—Pak war of 1965 and was tasked with the first strike mission of the conflict, to be carried out on an armoured column in the Chhamb sector. This was the first time a Jet Fighter was used by IAF in an offensive role in a war.

After the war, the Squadron was re-equipped with the 'Gnat'. The squadron evolved over the rest of the century with the Mig-21 T-77 and went on to be a frontline Mig-21 Bis squadron. On 24 Dec 1966, it became the first sqn to fly 9 MiG-21s in a Diamond formation. The Squadron drew blood again on '10 Aug 1999. when it shot down an intruding Atlantique aircraft of Pakistan Air Force in the Kutch sector. The Squadron was number plated in Dec 2002. On 01 Jul 2016, the ‘Flying Daggers’ became the first Squadron in the world to induct the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’, when it was resurrected in Bangalore. 45 Sqn relocated to its current base, AF Station Sulur on 01 Jul 2018. Since being equipped with Tejas aircraft, the unit has undertaken a number of Operational and National commitments, including Operational deployment post Balakot strikes in 2019.