The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when required, and a tertiary role of providing strategic airlift capability to Pakistan. As of 2024, as per the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the PAF has more than 70,000 active-duty personnel. PAF stands as the eight largest Air Force in the world. PAF is the largest Air Force of the Muslim world in terms of aircraft fleet. Its primary mandate and mission is "to provide, in synergy with other inter-services, the most efficient, assured and cost effective aerial defence of Pakistan." Since its establishment in 1947, the PAF has been involved in various combat operations, providing aerial support to the operations and relief efforts of the Pakistani military. Under Article 243, the Constitution of Pakistan appoints the President of Pakistan as the civilian Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), by statute a four-star air officer, is appointed by the President with the consultation and confirmation needed from the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of the Dominion of India. With the transition to a republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.
The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, also known as the second India–Pakistan war, was an armed conflict between Pakistan and India that took place from August 1965 to September 1965. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against Indian rule. The seventeen-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides and witnessed the largest engagement of armored vehicles and the largest tank battle since World War II. Hostilities between the two countries ended after a ceasefire was declared through UNSC Resolution 211 following a diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration. Much of the war was fought by the countries' land forces in Kashmir and along the border between India and Pakistan. This war saw the largest amassing of troops in Kashmir since the Partition of India in 1947, a number that was overshadowed only during the 2001–2002 military standoff between India and Pakistan. Most of the battles were fought by opposing infantry and armored units, with substantial backing from air forces, and naval operations.
The Atlantique incident occurred on 10 August 1999, when a Breguet Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft of the Pakistan Naval Air Arm was shot down by a MiG-21 fighter of the Indian Air Force over the Rann of Kutch, on the border between India and Pakistan. Sixteen Pakistani personnel including the pilots were killed as a result. The episode took place just a month after the Kargil War ended, aggravating already tense relations between the two countries.
Balwantrai Mehta was an Indian politician who served as the second Chief Minister of Gujarat state, India. He participated in Indian independence movement and later held various public offices. He is considered as the 'Architect of Panchayati Raj ' due to his contributions towards democratic decentralisation.
Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui was a Pakistani fighter pilot who is known for his gallant actions in two of the aerial dogfights during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and is a recipient of both the Hilal-e-Jurat and the Sitara-e-Jurat military awards from the Government of Pakistan.
Najeeb Ahmad Khan, commonly known as 8-Pass Charlie, was a Pakistani bomber pilot who raided the Adampur Airbase in India a number of times during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, notably starting a series of airstrikes on the base by a solo raid.
During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, the Indian and Pakistani Air Forces engaged in large-scale aerial combat for the first time. In the air war, which took place in September, both air forces conducted thousands of defensive and offensive sorties over Indian and Pakistani airspace. Both India and Pakistan claimed victory in the air war; Pakistan claimed to have destroyed 104 Indian aircraft and lost 19, and India claimed to have destroyed 73 Pakistani aircraft and lost 35 of its own. The air war ended in a stalemate.
Air-to-air combat is the engagement of combat aircraft in warfare in which primarily fixed-wing aircraft attempt to destroy enemy aircraft using guns, rockets and missiles. The Korean War saw the greatest amount of air-to-air combat since World War II. During the war the United States claimed to have shot down around 700 fighters. After the war the U.S. Air Force reviewed its figures in an investigation code-named Sabre Measure Charlie and downgraded the kill ratio of the North American F-86 Sabre against the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 by half from 14:1 to 7:1. One of the factors inflating US numbers was that most dogfights took place over enemy-controlled area. The only way to confirm kills was through gun camera photography. USAF pilots were credited with a kill if the gun camera showed their guns striking the enemy aircraft even if no one actually saw it go down. However, Soviet Air Force kill claims were also highly exaggerated, based upon inherent flaws in their film grading procedures. For instance, the S-13 gun camera was not aligned with either the gunsight or either cannons' ballistics. It ran only while the firing buttons were depressed. Film graders commonly included unit commanders and political commisars who would confirm a "kill"—sometimes even if one had not been claimed by a pilot—when the camera's crosshairs touched the target for two movie frames. During the first 16 months of combat Soviet V-VS units claimed 218 F-86s destroyed when only 36 had been lost. This results in a 600 per cent inflation rate in victory credits over actual Sabres destroyed. However, these figures are complicated by the fact that the Americans routinely attributed combat losses to landing accidents and other causes.
Squadron Leader Peter Christy, SJ, was a PAF bomber pilot and weapon systems officer (WSO). A B-57 Canberra navigator, Squadron Leader Christy was officially declared "missing in action" since December 1971, but widely presumed dead by the Pakistan Armed Forces as of 2004.
No. 11 Squadron, named the Arrows, is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter squadron assigned to the No. 39 Multi-Role Wing of the PAF Southern Air Command. It operates the Block 15 MLU model of the F-16 Fighting Falcon with a multi-role tasking and is also an Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).
The history of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) began when it was established in 1947 following the independence of Pakistan.
Kaiser TufailTI(M) is a retired Pakistani fighter pilot. Outside of his military service, Tufail is an active blogger, aviation historian and has delivered motivational speeches at TEDx conferences.
Air Vice Marshal Farooq Umar is a veteran Pakistani fighter pilot.
The 2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes and exchanges of gunfire between the Indian Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers: the paramilitary gendarmerie forces of both nations, responsible for patrolling the India-Pakistan border) along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region and the borders of the Punjab. Tensions began in mid-July 2014, with both countries' military officials and media reports giving different accounts of the incidents and accusing each other of initiating the hostilities. The incident sparked outrage in both countries and harsh reactions by the Indian and Pakistani militaries and the Indian and Pakistani governments.
The 2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes consisting of cross-border airstrikes and exchanges of gunfire between India and Pakistan across the de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region, which is subject to extensive territorial claims by both countries.
On 27 February 2019, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) conducted six airstrikes at multiple locations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The airstrikes were part of the PAF military operation codenamed Operation Swift Retort and were conducted in retaliation to the Indian Air Force (IAF) airstrike in Balakot just a day before on 26 February.
Group Captain Virendera Singh Pathania, VrC, VM, was an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot reputed for making the first confirmed aerial dogfight kill of independent India when he shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Sabre Jet with his Folland Gnat on 4 September 1965. For this action, he was awarded the Vir Chakra.
The No. 14 Squadron, nicknamed Tail Choppers, is an air superiority squadron of the Pakistan Air Force's Central Air Command. It is one of PAF's most decorated squadrons which earned its nickname after a daring strike mission on the Kalaikunda Air Force Station during the 1965 War. Currently, the Squadron is deployed at PAF Base Rafiqui and operates the PAC JF-17 Thunder multirole aircraft.
Wing Commander Amar Jit Singh Sandhu VrC, VM was an Indian Air Force officer and fighter pilot. He was awarded the Vir Chakra and the Vayusena Medals. He is credited with shooting down a Pakistan Air Force North American F-86 Sabre in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
