Mohammad Abbas Khattak ( ; born: 16 July 1943) is a four-star rank

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Pakistan Air Force 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 re ...

who served as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) from 8 November 1994 until 7 November 1997.

Biography

Abbas Khattak was born in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, NWFP on 16 July 1943. He was educated at the

Cadet College Hasan Abdal Cadet College Hasanabdal (CCH) is a residential secondary school located in Hasan Abdal, Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan.

, and joined the

in 1960, from which he was directed to attend the famed Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur. He passed out with the class of 35th GD( P), and gained

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

on 20 January 1963 in No. 19 Squadron ''Sherdils''. P/Off. Khattak was trained to fly the

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

and took participation in the various combat missions during the second war with

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1965. During this time, F/Off. was among the eight fighter pilots who were selected to take part in famous aerial raid on

Pathankot Air Force Station Pathankot Airport is a regional airport, 3 km from the nearest city Pathankot and 7 km from Pathankot Railway Station, located on the Pathankot – Majra Road. Pathankot airport serves domestic flights only. The airport, spread over ...

in India, a squadron commanded by then-

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

Sajad Haider. In 1970–71, Sq-Ldr. Khattak was posted with the Eastern Command in East-Pakistan, leading several mission against the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, 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 Octob ...

but was reposted in Sargodha Air Force Base before his country's surrender in Eastern Front of the third war with

in 1971. After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, Wg-Cdr. Khattak was directed to attend the war course at the National Defence University in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. In 1988, Air-Commodore Khattak was appointed as AOC of the Southern Air Command, serving until 1990. In 1991, AVM Khattak was posted to the Air Headquarters (AHQ) in Islamabad as DCAS (Training), where he played a pioneering role in aviation and flight safety programs. In 1994, Air-Marshal Khattak was promoted to DCAS (Operations) at AHQ.

Chief of Air Staff

On 8 November 1994,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

approved the promotion papers of Air-Mshl. Khattak to be promoted to the four-star rank,

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

. This promotion was controversial since Air-Mshl. Khattak superseded two senior

air officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth of Natio ...

s: Air-Mshl. Shafique Haider (the Vice Chief of the Air Staff), and Air-Mshl. Dilawar Hussain (

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

). The reason this appointment was highly controversial is because the departing Chief of Air Staff Farooq Feroze Khan struck a deal behind closed doors with Benazir and Zardari to appoint him as the Joint Chief of Staff and in exchange he would allow Zardari to promote Khattak as the Chief of Air Staff. Khattak and Zardari have been accused of receiving millions of dollars in kickback from a Mirage deal. During his tenureship as air chief, ACM Khattak made attempts to acquire the Mirage-2000 from

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

but vetoed the acquisition of MiG-29F and the Su-27 aircraft from the

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, despite the strong backing of the then- Chairman joint chiefs, ACM Feroze Khan, due to their poor war performances. During his tenure, Pakistan worked with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to develop the K-8 Karakorum.Asia Pacific Defense Forum Spring 1998
After his retirement he was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal PQ Mehdi. He is married and has two sons.

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links