Air Force Day ( or ''Youm-e-Fizaya'') is celebrated in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

as a national day on 7 September, after the annual celebration of the Defence Day.

Airshows An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

and other programs mark 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 ...

's (PAF) role in defending the nation in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Indo-Pakistani war of 1965

On 6 September, both countries openly went to war following a series of minor skirmishes that preceded the 6th, when Pakistan was attacked by India from the Lahore-Burki sector during the dead of night (at 5 am). The war began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India. The five-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the

Tashkent Declaration The Tashkent Declaration was signed between India and Pakistan on 10 January 1966 to resolve the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Peace was achieved on 23 September through interventions by the Soviet Union and the United States, both of which pus ...

Notable decorations

A notable event of the war was that

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

Muhammad Mahmood Alam shot down five

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 ...

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...

Mk.56 fighters in less than a minute, four being in first 30 seconds and became one of the few

aviators who became ace in a day An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they ar ...

and the only jet age ace-in-a-day. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat ("The star of courage") and bar for his actions.

Outcome of war for PAF

gained a lot of credibility and reliability among Pakistan military and international war writers for successful defence of

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and other important areas of Pakistan and heavy retaliation to India on the next day. The alertness of the air force was also related to the fact that some pilots were scrambled six times in less than an hour on indication of Indian air raids."Pakistan's Air Power", ''

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

'', issue published 5 May 1984 (page 1208). Can be viewed a
FlightGlobal.com archives
Retrieved: 22 October 2009

Airshows and celebrations

*Flag hoisting *Parade *Military exhibitions *Award ceremonies *Singing patriotic songs *Entertainment and military programmes *Speeches. *Prayers for national unity *Airshows featuring PAF aircraft

References

{{International Airshows

Air shows Aviation in Pakistan Events in Pakistan Pakistan Air Force September observances