Pakistan Army Aviation Corps

Pakistan Army Aviation Corps
Badge of the Corps of Aviation
Founded	1958;67 years ago (1958)
Country	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Army
Type	Combined and Combat support service
Role	Administrative and staffing oversight.
HQ/Garrison	Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, Punjab in Pakistan.
Nickname(s)	AVN
Colors identification	Purple, White, Yellow
Anniversaries	1958
Engagements	Military history of Pakistan
Commanders
Director-General	Maj-Gen. Nadeem Yousaf
Notable commanders	Brigadier Zakaullah Bhangoo
Insignia
War Flag
Patch
Aircraft flown
Attack helicopter	Bell AH-1 Cobra Mil Mi-24/35 CAIC Z-10 Eurocopter Fennec
Multirole helicopter	AW139 Bell 412
Trainer helicopter	Bell 206 Enstrom F-28 Schweizer S300 Bell UH-1 Huey
Utility helicopter	Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma Aérospatiale Alouette III Aérospatiale Lama
Reconnaissance	Beechcraft Super King Air
Transport	Beechcraft Super King Air Harbin Y-12 Turbo Commander 690C Cessna 206 Cessna 208 Caravan Cessna Citation V Cessna Citation II Gulfstream G450

The Pakistan Army Corps of Aviation is a military administrative and combined arms service branch of the Pakistan Army. ^[1]

The Aviation Corps is tasked with configuration of all army aviation aircraft and provides principle close aerial combat support and aerial logistics for the Pakistan Army. ^[1]

Overview

Originally formed by the British Army Air Corps in 1942, the partition in 1947 of the former British Indian Army allowed the entire unit of the British Army's Air Corps to be transferred to the Pakistan Army. ^[1] Initially, the Aviation Corps was part of the Pakistan Air Force but was commissioned in the Pakistan Army after its personnel were trained and certified in the United States in 1958.^{: 32  [2] [3]} The Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering started to maintain the aircraft and helicopters given by the U.S. Army's Aviation Branch, opening its own aviation school in 1959. ^[4]

Since the 1960s, the corps expanded in momentum, manpower, and its operational scope has widened. ^[4] The Aviation Corps became a combat support branch when it inducted its first attack helicopters from Iran in 1970. ^[4] The Aviation Corps is commanded by an active-duty two star major-general, who serves as its director-general and functions directly under the Chief of the General Staff at the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, Punjab. ^[5]

Aircraft inventory

The Pakistan Army operates 314+ helicopters alongside several fixed-wing aircraft.

3 CAIC Z-10 attack helicopters of China were delivered for trial use so that orders could be made in the future.

15 Bell AH-1Z Viper with Hellfire missiles, equipment and support worth $952 million were on order but are on hold due to political tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan. ^[6]

30 TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK worth $1.5 billion is on order however production is still on hold due to the United States not giving export license for the engine, which is of American origin. New Turkish indigenous engine as a replacement is currently on trials. ^[7]

After the United States failed to deliver the AH-1Z and the problems with the Turkish T129, the Pakistan Army again is showing interests in Chinese all-weather, multirole CAIC Z-10ME which is the advanced and upgraded variant of the CAIC Z-10. ^[8]

Aircraft/System	Photo	Origin	Role	Variant	Quantity	Note	Service period
Helicopters 314, 92 Attack
Bell AH-1 Cobra		United States	Attack	AH-1F	50 [9]		1985–present
Mil Mi-35		Russia	Attack	Mi-35M3	4 [9]		2018–present
CAIC Z-10		China	Attack	Z-10ME	3 [9]	17 on order.[ citation needed ]	2023–
Eurocopter Fennec		France	Armed / Scout	H125M	35 [9] [10]		2009–present
Mil Mi-17		Russia	Transport Utility	Mi-171	48 [9]		1996–present
Aérospatiale/IAR SA 330 Puma		France   Romania	SAR Utility	330L	43 [9]		1977–present
AgustaWestland AW139		Italy	SAR Utility	AW139M	7 [9] [11]		2017–present
Bell 412		United States	MEDEVAC Utility	412EPI	31 [9]		2004–present
Bell UH-1 Iroquois		United States	Utility	UH-1H	1 [9]		1970s
Aérospatiale Alouette III		France	Light Utility	SA 316B	13 [9]		1967–present
Aérospatiale Lama		France	Light Utility	SA 315B	17 [9]		1986–present
Schweizer 300		United States	Trainer	300C	25 [9]		1993–present
Enstrom F-28		United States	Trainer	280FX	19 [9]		2018–present
Bell 206 JetRanger		United States	Trainer	206B	18 [9]		1975–present
Fixed-wing Aircraft
PAC MFI-17 Mushshak		Pakistan   Sweden	Trainer		214 [9]
Beechcraft Super King Air		United States	Reconnaissance	350i	3 [9]	for SIGINT & ISR
		United States	Utility	350ER	6 [9]
Harbin Y-12		China	Utility	Y-12(II)/F	4 [9]
Turbo Commander		United States	Utility	690C	2 [9]
Cessna 208 Caravan		United States	MEDEVAC	208B	13 [9]
Cessna 206 Stationair		United States	MEDEVAC	T206H	4 [12]
Cessna Citation II		United States	VIP Transport	Citation Bravo	1 [9]
Cessna Citation V		United States	VIP Transport	Citation Ultra	1 [13]
Gulfstream IV		United States	VIP Transport	G450	1 [14]

Retired Aircraft

• Auster 5 1947–1957
• Auster AOP.6 1947–1957
• Cessna O-1 Bird Dog 1957–1990
• Beechcraft U-8F Seminole 1963–1983
• Bell Model 47 1964–1990
• Bell OH-13 Sioux 1964–1990
• Mil Mi-8 1969–1998

Notable accidents and incidents

• 2022 Pakistan Army helicopter incident
• 29 March 2022 – Eight UN peacekeepers, six Pakistanis, a Russian and a Serb, part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were killed in a crash of a Puma helicopter operated by the Pakistan Army Aviation Corps while on a reconnaissance mission in the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18]}
• 2019 Pakistan Army military plane crash
• 2015 Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash
• 2009 Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash

The Mil Mi-17 (with Pakistani military markings) participating in combat support operations in coordination with Russian forces, 2017

See also

• Pakistan Air Force
• List of active Pakistan Air Force aircraft
• List of aircraft of the Pakistan Naval Air Arm
• Equipment of the Pakistan Army

References

1. PA, Pakistan Army. "Army Aviation-Pakistan Army". Pakistan Army. Pakistan Army Aviation Corps. Archived from the original on 17 November 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
2. Karim, Afsir (1996). Indo-Pak Relations: Viewpoints, 1989-1996. Lancer Publishers. ISBN   978-1-897829-23-3 . Retrieved 15 December 2023.
3. Global Security. "Army Aviation Corps". Global Security inc. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
4. The United States Government (CIA Fact Book) (2011). Pakistan Intelligence and Security Activities Army Aviation Corps. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government. p. 259. ISBN   978-0-7397-1194-1. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
5. Alam, Dr Shah (1 July 2012). Pakistan Army: Modernisation, Arms Procurement and Capacity Building. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN   978-93-81411-79-7 . Retrieved 15 December 2023.
6. "Nine Pakistan AH-1Z now stored at AMARG". AirForces Monthly . Key Publishing. May 2019. p. 26.
7. "Turkey First Indigenous Helicopter Engine to be Ready for Integration This Year". Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
8. "Janes | Latest defence and security news". Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
9. "World Air Forces directory 2022". Flightglobal Insight. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
10. "2023 World Air Forces directory". Flight Global. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
11. "List of AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters in Pakistan". Helis.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
12. Siddiqui, Naveed (31 March 2017). "Pakistan Army receives six Cessna aircraft from US". dawn.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
13. "Cessna 560 Citation V – Pakistan – Army". airliners.net. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
14. "Gulfstream G450". jetphotos.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
15. "Eight killed as UN helicopter crashes in eastern DRC". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
16. "Six Pakistan Army officers, soldiers martyred in UN copter crash". The Express Tribune. 29 March 2022. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
17. Siddiqui, Naveed (29 March 2022). "Six Pakistani officers, soldiers martyred in helicopter crash in Congo: ISPR". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
18. "Eight UN peacekeepers killed in helicopter crash in DRC". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 29 March 2022. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.

External links

• ISPR (5 April 2007). "History of Pakistan Army Aviation". YouTube . Retrieved 21 December 2011.