IAF’s ‘Guardian of the Valley’ gets number-plated; one more MiG squadron phases out

Indian Air Force’s Srinagar-based 51 Squadron—also called the Guardian of the Valley—was number-plated on Friday, after more than 35 years in service.

Number-plating is an official process that involves keeping a unit alive on paper, while posting all its men out to other units. The unit is resurrected at a later date, with new aircraft and possibly a new location. The 51 Squadron stopped flying on June 30, and finally number-plated on September 30.

The winding up of 51 Squadron also signals the beginning of the end of the MiG-21 era in the Indian Air Force, which relied on the Russian-origin multi-role fighters being its mainstay for half a century.

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The legacy jets, which earned the “flying coffins” sobriquet because of frequent accidents in the last two decades, would be phased out of IAF service completely by 2025.

The three remaining MiG-21BIS units—4 Squadron, 3 Squadron and 23 Squadron—would be number-plated in the next three years, sources said.

A MiG-29 unit will be tasked to protect Kashmir as the new Guardian of the Valley.

Raised in Chandigarh in 1985, the distinguished Squadron, nicknamed Swordarms, was moved to Srinagar next year. Since then, it has operated in all types of terrain and environment.

The 51 Squadron unit took part in Operation Brasstacks in 1987 during which it carried out intensive valley flying and manned operational readiness platforms from both Srinagar and Awantipura for three months.

The Swordarms also participated in Operation Safed Sagar (the air operation in the Kargil Campaign) in 1999, during which the Squadron flew 194 sorties contributing to the air defence of the strike fleet.

The unit also carried out offensive missions at Point 5140 and Tololing in the first two days of the operation, and subsequently reverted to its primary role of air defence. During Operation Parakram in 2001-02, the Squadron was tasked with the protection of Kashmir valley.

In the recent past, the unit was made famous by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who took on a Pakistani F-16 with his MiG-21 in 2019. After the dogfight that ensued, the MiG-21 crashed inside Pakistan territory and Varthaman was captured by Pakistan.

The IAF pilot was released two days later.