Everything about Pakistan Air Force totally explained
Pakistan Air Force (
Urdu:
پاک فضائیہ,
Pak Faza'ya) (
PAF) is the
Aviation branch of the
Pakistan armed forces and is responsible for defending Pakistani air-space from intrusions. It also provides air support for ground troops. Every year the 7th of September, as day after the annual celebration of the Pakistan Defense Day, the day is celebrated as the Air Force day in Pakistan. That day Air shows and other programs mark the PAF's role in defending the nation.
Mission statement
The primary mission statement of the PAF was given by
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of
Pakistan during his address to the passing out cadets of the
Pakistan Air Force Academy Risalpur on
13 April,
1948. His following statement has been taken as an article of faith by all coming generations of PAF personnel:
»
But the present scenario has required and enabled the Force to come up with an improved and up-to-date Mission Statement:
»
History
Origin (1947 - 1951)
The
Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) was formed in
1947 following the
Partition of India. The RPAF began with 2,332 personnel, a fleet of 24
Tempest II fighter-bombers, 16
Hawker Typhoon fighters (also called Tempest I), two
H.P.57 Halifax bombers, 2
Auster aircraft, twelve
T-6G Harvard trainers and ten
Tiger Moth biplanes. It also got eight
C-47 Dakota cargo planes which it used to transport supplies to soldiers fighting in the
1947 War in
Kashmir against
India. However, it allegedly never received all the planes it was alloted at the time of partition of sub-continent. It started with 7 operational airbases scattered all over the provinces. The prefix Royal was removed when
Pakistan gained the status of
Republic on
23 March,
1956. It has since been called
Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
Operating these inherited aircraft was far from ideal in Pakistan's diverse terrains, deserts and mountains; frequent attrition and injuries didn't make the situation any better. However, by 1948 the air force acquired better aircraft such as the
Hawker Sea Fury fighter-bomber and the
Bristol Freighter. These new aircraft gave a much-needed boost to the morale and combat capability of the Pakistan Air Force; 93 Hawker Fury and roughly 50-70 Bristol Freighter aircraft were inducted into the PAF by
1950.
The jet age (1951 - 1961)
Although the Pakistan Air Force had little funds to use and markets to choose from, it entered the
jet age quite early. Initially it had planned to acquire US-built
F-94Cs,
F-86s, or
F-84s and produce its order in Pakistan. However, lack of funds and strong British pressure persuaded the PAF to acquire the British
Supermarine Attacker. The first squadron equipped with these aircraft was the Number-11 "Arrow". The Supermarine Attacker had a rather unsatisfactory service in the Pakistan Air Force with frequent attrition and maintenance problems.
In
1957 the Pakistan Air Force received 100 American-built F-86 Sabres under the U.S. aid program. Squadron after squadron in the PAF retired its Hawker Furys and Supermarine Attackers, and replaced them with F-86 jet fighters. In 1957 thirty-six year old Air Marshal
Asghar Khan became the Pakistan Air Force's first commander-in-chief; his tenure saw a change of PAF
discipline,
professionalism and quality which even today leaves its positive mark on the PAF. During his eight-year command the PAF saw modernization and re-equipment programs, as well as stricter and better training.
The PAF recorded its first kill on
10 April 1959 when an
Indian Air Force English Electric Canberra plane allegedly on photo reconnaissance mission over
Rawalpindi was shot down.
Indo-Pakistan War of 1965
On
September 6,
1965 war broke out between India and Pakistan. The first PAF
F-104 kill of an Indian Air Force
Mystère IV with one of its Sidewinders came on the afternoon of
September 7, making it the first combat kill with a Mach 2-capable aircraft. Pakistan attacked India using F-104, F-86, B-57 and
RT-33A. In addition to blunting the Indian army's attacks in several sectors, and inflicting damage to some IAF bases, PAF claimed 104 aircraft destroyed for a loss of 19 aircraft.
The Six Day War
In between the
war of 1965 and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, PAF sent its pilots to many
Arab nations during the
Six-Day War. Pakistani pilots flew in the Air Forces of
Jordan,
Egypt and
Iraq, recording 3 confirmed kills against the Israeli Air Force (including
Mirages,
Mystères and
Vautours) without losing any of their own planes. Flight Lieutenant Saif-ul-Azam was decorated by both Jordanian and Iraqi governments for shooting down Israeli planes.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Despite its considerably smaller size and limited capabilities, the PAF launched a
pre-emptive strike,
Operation Chengiz Khan, against Indian airbases. The PAF's strikes were based on the same strategy of preemptive neutralization of enemy air capability followed by the
Israeli Air Force on
Egyptian and
Arab air forces in
Operation Focus during the
six day war. This strike, took the IAF by surprise and managed to overwhelm the Indians on the western front. However, on the eastern front, it didn't achieve its mission objectives of completely neutralizing the
IAF because the PAF only had one operational squadron stationed in
East Pakistan. The IAF was able to regroup and launch retaliatory strikes that same night and focused their strategy on the Eastern wing, thus avoiding a major confrontation along the western border. This allowed the
IAF to achieve air supremacy towards the end of the war in the East Pakistan since the airbase in Dhaka suffered extensive damage. Although at least 32 Indian fighters were shot down in the Eastern wing.
The PAF found itself outgunned in East Pakistan. It only had one squadron of 16 old vintage
F-86 Sabre aircraft facing fourteen squadrons of
Indian Air Force. On the night of 3rd and 4th December, this squadron fought against 11 squadrons of
IAF and was surprisingly able to repulse the attack. However, it was taken out of the war when
IAF bombed the only airfield in Dhaka, twice . As a result the airspace over East Pakistan couldn't be effectively patrolled by the PAF, this adversely effected the ability of the Pakistan army to defend East Pakistan. The PAF claims to have destroyed 107 Indian fighters planes during the war.. He was honored by the Syrian government. Other aerial encounters involved Israeli F4
Phantoms; Pakistan Air Force didn't lose a single pilot or aircraft during this war. The
Pakistani pilots stayed on in
Syria until 1976, training
Syrian pilots in the art of air warfare.
Soviet-Afghan War
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 in support of the pro-Soviet government in Kabul, which was being hard-pressed by Mujahadeen rebel forces, marked the start of a decade-long occupation. Mujahadeen rebels continued to harass the occupying Soviet military force as well as the forces of the Afghan regime that it was supporting. The war soon spilled over into neighbouring Pakistan, with a horde of refugees fleeing to camps across the border in an attempt to escape the conflict. In addition, many of the rebels used Pakistan as a sanctuary from which to carry out forays into Afghanistan, and a steady flow of US-supplied arms was carried into Afghanistan from staging areas in Pakistan near the border. This inevitably resulted in border violations by Soviet and Afghan aircraft attempting to interdict these operations.
Between May 1986 and January 1989, PAF F-16s shot down at least ten intruders from Afghanistan. Four of the kills were Afghan Su-22s bombers, three were Afghan transports (two An-26s and one An-24), and one was a Soviet Su-25 bomber
The new generation (1983 - 1989)
In 1979, the
Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan. The violent Soviet invasion brought hundreds of thousands of
Afghan refugees to Pakistan. With the war being critical to Pakistan's national sovereignty and integrity, the PAF once again sought out modernization, including the procurement of new generation fighter aircraft. France offered its new
Mirage 2000, while the PAF's senior officers were interested in procuring American F-16 or F-18L fighters. Initially the Americans refused to sell the
F-16 or
F-18L and instead offered
F-20,
F-5E/F or
A-10 aircraft. Eventually the new Republican administration of
Ronald Reagan approved the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, and in 1981 an agreement was made to supply 34 General Dynamics F-16A and 12 F-16B "Fighting Falcon" aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force.
The
F-16s were delivered under the "Peace Gate" Foreign Military Sales Program; the first six were delivered in 1983 under "Peace Gate-I" while the remaining 34 arrived by 1986, under the "Peace Gate-II" program. Between 1986 and 1988 Pakistani F-16s took part in frequent skirmishes with Soviet and Afghan aircraft.
Pakistani F-16s typically carry two all-aspect
AIM-9Ls on the wingtip rails, along with a pair of AIM-9Ps on the outermost underwing racks. The F-16s also have an important strike role for which they're fitted with the French-built Thomson-CSF ATLIS laser designation pod and have the capability to deliver Paveway laser-guided bombs. The ATLIS was first fitted to Pakistani F-16s in January 1986, which became the first non-European aircraft to be qualified for the ATLIS pod.
During the late 1980s, the Pakistan Air Force's Air Defence system also underwent modernization, including the induction and integration of new land-based AN/TPS-47 radars and new
Crotale Surface-to-air missiles. Attempts to acquire a new AWACS aircraft were also made - with the
E-3 Sentry being desired, but the U.S wouldn't sell it and instead offered the
E-2 Hawkeye.
In 1988 the Pakistan Air Force sought to replace its F-6s and Mirages by 1997 with the procurement of new aircraft; initially a mix of Mirage 2000 and F-16A/B Block-15OCU were to be acquired alongside 90 or so F-7 (Chinese MiG-21). However in 1988 the death of
Zia-ul-Haq and Soviet disengagement from Afghanistan reduced Pakistan's value as an US ally and sanctions were put in place by US authorities quoting a suspected nuclear program. Since 2002 the F-6 has been phased out of Pakistan Air Force and the last flight and farewell ceremony to the F-6 aircraft was held at Pakistan Air Force Base Samungli (Quetta Baluchistan), Wing Commander Arif had the honour of flying the last sortie of the F-6 aircraft in the presence of PAF Chief and Chinese Air Force high officials.
The "lost" decade (1991 - 2001)
From 1990 Pakistan was hit by American military embargoes in response to Pakistan's nuclear weapons development; these embargoes prevented the Pakistan Air Force from acquiring the 71 new-built F-16s from the U.S. After the 1998 nuclear tests and 1999 military coup, Pakistan was hit by further sanctions not only from the U.S but other Western nations as well; it wouldn't be until 2002 when the U.S finally ended most of the embargoes. During the 1990s the Pakistan Air Force strived for alternative sources for its new generation fighter requirement; the French Dassault Mirage 2000-5 was chosen but was too expensive to obtain.
This forced Pakistan to rely heavily on China for military aircraft. Pakistan and China worked together to develop the
K-8 trainer, and continue to cooperate on the
JF-17 project which aims to provide both nations with a new-generation fighter. This project is a major joint venture between Pakistan Air Force and China Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation along with Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC). The research and development cost of this project is between 450 to 500 million US dollars. It is financed up to 50%-59% by the government of Pakistan. Estimated cost per aircraft will be around 20 million US dollars. As of 2007, Pakistan had started manufacturing
JF-17s in Kamra and the first delivery of two planes has taken place in March, 2007.But the mass production started in January 2008 the 8 JF-17 delivered to Pakistan and two are in transit.
Kargil war
During the
Kargil War with India, while none of the PAF aircraft played a role, the Pakistan Air Force Air Defence unit shot down an
Indian Air Force MiG-27 on
May 27,
1999 which had entered Pakistani air-space. Pakistan also shot down another
Mig-21, which had come into the area in search of the earlier downed pilot. Pakistan claimed that these two aircraft had violated the LoC and crossed 7 miles in to Pakistani air space before being shot down by PAF Air Defence and Pakistan Army
SAM and
AAM, though India maintains that it was in Indian territory and that the aircraft were shot down by the infiltrators using
Stinger missiles that they claim were later recovered.
The Mig-27 pilot, Flt Lt
Nachiketa successfully ejected, and he was captured by Pakistani ground forces as a
POW. Post Kargil war and ceasefire, he was returned to India.
Four
IAF personnel were killed on
May 28 when a
MI-17 helicopter was shot down by Pakistan air defence units.
Pakistan Air Force today
The PAF today operates
F-16s,
F-7PGs,
F-7MPs,
Mirage-IIIs,
JF-17 Thunders, A-5Cs and
Mirage-Vs, around 500 to 530 fighters organized in 27 front-line squadrons, the total of aircraft exceeds over 700. The PAF is upgrading fighter aircraft such as the Mirage ROSE-I that can utilize
BVR, and Mirage ROSE-III that can carry out surgical strike missions using long-range glide bombs. According to some resources, these planes match or exceed the performance of
F-16s in some aspects. Pakistan has also started manufacturing 150 (can go up to 250-300 fighters)
JF-17 Thunder fighters at
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at
Kamra. The first batch of two aircraft were commissioned in PAF on
23 March 2007.
On
April 12,
2006, the Government of Pakistan authorized the purchase of up to 77
F-16 fighter planes from the US. But this number was reduced to 40 when US declined to reduce the unit price of the aircraft. The Government of Pakistan had also authorized the purchase of 36 Chinese
J-10 fighter aircraft
PAF also received its first of five Saab 2000 AWACS aircraft from
Sweden, on
April 3 2008.
PAF Awards for valor
The
Nishan-e-Haider (Urdu: نشان حیدر) (Order of Bravery), is the highest military award given by Pakistan. Pilot Officer
Rashid Minhas (1951–
August 20,
1971) is the only officer of the PAF to be awarded the Nishan-e-Haider. Other heroes of the
PAF include:
On March 15, Pakistan received 6 JF-17 fighters from China. The Pakistan Air Force currently has 8 JF-17 Thunder aircraft in service.
PAF Command structure
Personnel and command
The Air Force has about 65,000 active personnel with about 10,000 reserves. The Chief of the Air Staff holds the operational and administrative powers. He is assisted by a Vice Chief of Air Staff and six Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff who control and administer the Administration, Operations, Engineering, Supply (logistics), Personnel, and Training divisions of the PAF respectively. Recently, the Air Headquarters (AHQ) has been moved from Chaklala to Islamabad. Major Air force bases are at
Shorkot,
Karachi,
Quetta,
Kamra,
Peshawar,
Mianwali,
Sargodha and
Risalpur. There are many war-time operational forward bases, civilian airstrips and runways as well as emergency motorways.
Ranks
The current officer rank structure follows Royal Air Force designations:
In 2006 the Pakistan Air Force changed the rank insignia for its officers, abandoning the ring insignia in favour of an army-style one based on stars .
List of PAF Chiefs
Air Vice Marshal Allan Perry-Keane (August 15, 1947 - February 17, 1949)
Air Vice Marshal R.L.R. Atcherley (February 18, 1949 - May 6, 1951)
Air Vice Marshal L.W. Cannon (May 7, 1951 - June 19, 1955)
Air Vice Marshal A.W.B. McDonald (June 20, 1955 - July 22, 1957)
Air Marshal Asghar Khan (July 23, 1957 - July 22, 1965)
Air Marshal M. Nur Khan (July 23, 1965 - August 31, 1969)
Air Marshal A. Rahim Khan (September 1, 1969 - March 2, 1972)
Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry (March 3, 1972 - April 15, 1974)
Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan (April 16, 1974 - July 22, 1978)
Air Chief Marshal M. Anwar Shamim (July 23, 1978 - March 5, 1985)
Air Chief Marshal Jamal A. Khan (March 6, 1985 - March 8, 1988)
Air Chief Marshal Hakimullah (March 9, 1988 - March 9, 1991)
Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan (March 9, 1991 - November 8, 1994)
Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak (November 8, 1994 - November 7, 1997)
Air Chief Marshal Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi (November 7, 1997 - November 20, 2000)
Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (November 20, 2000 - February 20, 2003)
Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat (March 18, 2003 - March 18, 2006)
Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed (March 18, 2006 - present)
PAF Special Forces
Special Service Wing (SSW) is an independent commando division of the Pakistan Air Force. It is an elite special operations force similar based upon the US Air Force's Special Tactics unit and the US Army's Ranger unit. This the newest component to the Special Forces of Pakistan. The division is still being trained and built up which will initially field between 700 to 1,000 men in 1 Company and is expected to be combat ready soon.
PAF Bases
These are the bases from which the PAF planes operate during peace time. They have complete infrastructure of hardened shelters, control towers, workshops, ordnance depots etc. These are ten in number and are :
PAF Mushaf (Sargodha)
PAF Masroor (Karachi)
PAF Rafiqui (Shorkot)
PAF Peshawar (Peshawar)
PAF Samungli (Quetta)
PAF Mianwali (Mianwali)
PAF Minhas (Kamra)
PAF Chaklala (Rawalpindi)
PAF Faisal (Karachi)
PAF Risalpur (Risalpur)
Female role in PAF
Females have been enrolled in the Pakistan Air Force since its creation, but their induction had been limited to administrative branches only. However, females are now allowed to enroll in the aerospace engineering and fighter pilot programs of the nation's air force academy. Two batches of female fighter pilots graduated in year 2006 bringing out the first female pilots of the Pakistan Air Force.
On March 31st 2006, Saba Khan, Nadia Gul, Mariam Khalil and Saira Batool were among 36 aviation cadets who received their wings after three and a half years of regular training. Saira Amin, a female cadet, has made history by being the first woman pilot to have won the Sword of Honour in any defence academy of Pakistan, at the passing out parade of the 117th GD (P) at Risalpur Of the first four female pilots, none qualified for a fighter aircraft squadron of the Air Force. They are therefore now part of the light communication squadron of Pakistan Air Force.
PAF Fleet
Further Information
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