No. 125 Helicopter Squadron IAF

No. 125 Helicopter Squadron
Active	1 November 1983- Present
Country	Republic of India
Branch	Indian Air Force
Type	Attack Helicopter
Role	Close Air Support
Size	1 Squadron
Part of	Western Air Command
Garrison/HQ	Pathankot Air Force Station
Nickname(s)	"Gladiators"
Motto(s)	Balidaan Veerasya Bhushanam Sacrifice is jewel of Brave
Aircraft flown
Attack	Apache AH-64E

An Apache helicopter on the day of induction into the squadron.

No. 125 Helicopter Squadron (Gladiators) is a fighter squadron and is equipped with Apache AH-64E and based at Pathankot Air Force Station.^[1]

History

The first Attack Helicopter Squadron of IAF was raised as 125 Helicopter Squadron on 1 November 1983 and equipped with Mi-25 helicopter Gunships. The squadron was reequipped with Mi-35 in April 1990.^[2] On 3 September 2019, the squadron formally inducted the first batch of AH-64E Apache helicopters into the Indian Air Force.

Assignments

• IPKF Jaffna Operations
• DRC Peacekeeping Mission

Aircraft

Aircraft	From	To	Air Base
Mil Mi-25 U	1 November 1983	May 1990	Pathankot AFS[3]
Mil Mi-35	June 1990	August 2019
Boeing Apache AH-64E	3 September 2019	Present[4]

References

1. "Squadrons and Helicopter Units". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
2. "Our Strength". Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
3. "No.125 Helicopter Squadron Gladiators". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
4. "IAF gets new firepower, inducts eight Apache attack helicopters". Indian Express. 4 September 2019.