Ambala AFS

Ambala Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force base located north of the urban Ambala Cantt area in Haryana, India. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence and operated by the Indian Air Force under the Western Air Command. The air base was built in 1919 by the British Raj, with the first airstrip created as RAF Ambala and a Flying Instruction School (FIS) formed there. In 1920, No. 28 Squadron RAF was reformed at RAF Ambala. By 1938, Ambala was approved as a permanent Station Headquarters, housing No. 1 Squadron IAF and No. 28 Squadron RAF. After India's independence in August 1947, Ambala became the first IAF station of independent India.

Ambala Air Force Base was attacked by the Pakistani Air Force during both the 1965 and 1971 wars. On February 26, 2019, Mirage fighters took off from Ambala air base for India's 2019 Balakot airstrike in Pakistan. During the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic, MChS Rossii flew relief supplies from Russia to Ambala.

Currently, Ambala Air Force Station is home to the first batch of Dassault Rafale multirole fighter jets inducted into the Indian Air Force. It also houses SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft of No. 5 Squadron IAF and No. 14 Squadron IAF, and previously MiG-21bis of No. 21 Squadron IAF. The garrison for the base is 7 Wing. A civil enclave, known as Ambala Domestic Airport, is under construction on a 20-acre site next to the air force base, with scheduled domestic flights expected to commence in March 2025. This development indicates a future dual civilian and military usage for the airport.