[2] It was raised on 1 May 1957 with eight newly inducted PR.57 English Electric Canberras in the strategic photo-reconnaissance role.
Of the original eight, one Canberra, IP 988, was shot down on 10 April 1959, when it reportedly strayed into Pakistani airspace.
[6][7] In the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, 106 Squadron Canberras were involved in a number of photo-reconnaissance missions which were strategic in nature.
This produced a notable photograph of crossed and inter-twined tracks of the Pakistani armour as they manoeuvered to avoid destruction by the Hunters of the Operational Training Unit.
[8]: 156–158 On 10 Dec 1971, a reconnaissance sortie was flown to Gwadar, to check whether the Pakistan Navy had located any assets there to avoid the blockade of Karachi, which did not prove to be the case.
In 1999, a Canberra, IP 990, on a low-level mission over Kargil during Operation Vijay, was hit by a Stinger missile.
[9] On 19 December 2005, the same aircraft suffered an engine failure forcing it to return to base, but crashed 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) short of the runway, killing both pilots.