Kaleem Saadat ( ; b. 12 December 1951) is a retired four-star

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 ...

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 from 18 March 2003 until retiring on 20 March 2006. His appointment came after an air crash that killed

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 ...

Mushaf Ali Mir Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (5 March 1947 – 20 February 2003) was an influential statesman and a four-star rank air officer who served as the ninth Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), appointed on 20 November 2000 until ...

, the air chief, along with several other high-ranking Air Force officers on 19 February 2003."Kaleem Saadat appointed new Air Chief"
''Daily Times'', 20 March 2003 He is the President of the

Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS, ) is an independent research think tank founded by the Pakistan Air Force with specializations in the domains of aerospace, emerging technologies, security, and foresight. It was inaugurated by A ...

Biography

Kaleem Saadat was born in

Lyallpur Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

(now

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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# ...

into a Punjabi-speaking

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

family on 12 December 1951. He was educated at the Air Force Public School in

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...

and

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

14th out of 697 in his class in 1969. He entered in the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

Risalpur Risalpur (Pashto/) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 18 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin some 316 meters abo ...

and passed out with the class of 51st GD (P) course, along with his close friend and classmate

Rashid Minhas Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas () was a Pakistani fighter pilot and the fifth recipient of Pakistan's highest military award, the Nishan-e-Haider. Minhas was the first and only officer from the Pakistan Air Force to receive the Nishan-e-Haider, ...

. Rashid Minhas was the trainee pilot who lost his life preventing his flight instructor from defecting to India in 1971 when their struggled for control of their aircraft caused it to crash. Saadat took the Basic Weapons Course,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

; the Flying Instructors' Course from

; the Staff College and Air War Course from the

PAF Air War College PAF Air War College Institute is the Pakistan Air Forces academic establishment located at PAF Base Faisal providing training and education primarily to mid-career officers of the air force as well as a limited number of officers from Pakistan ...

; L'ESGI and CSI from the

École Militaire École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

in France; and the National Defence Course from the National Defence College, Islamabad. His foreign tours include: Exchange Pilot in Turkey (1977–78); Deputation to Algeria (1980–83); War Course at the

, Paris, France (1989–90).

Command and staff assignments

During his Air Force career, Saadat commanded No. 14 OCU Squadron, No. 32 Wing at

PAF Base Masroor Pakistan Air Force Base Masroor or more simply PAF Base Masroor is the largest airbase operated by the Pakistan Air Force. It is located in the Mauripur area of Karachi, in the Sindh province. The base was originally known as RIAF Base Mau ...

, and

PAF Base Peshawar Pakistan Air Force Base, Peshawar is an Air base, airbase of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the operational site of the PAF's Northern Air Command, located to the east of Bacha Khan Intern ...

. His staff and instructional appointments include assistant commandant of the College of Flying Training at

PAF Academy The Pakistan Air Force Academy Asghar Khan (PAFAA) is an accredited four-year military academy which provides undergraduate education to officer candidates of the Pakistan Armed Forces, primarily the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).Shaheen Foundati ...

, director of plans at AHQ, chief instructor at the National Defence College,

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 ...

, and deputy chief of air staff (operations) at AHQ.

PAF Air Chief

Death of Air Chief Mushaf Ali Mir

On 20 February 2003, the PAF Chief

died in a plane crash when the

Fokker Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...

he, his wife and fifteen other high-ranking officers were flying in crashed near

Kohat Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population o ...

in northwestern

, killing all the passengers on board. Thereafter, the then vice chief, Air Marshal Syed Qaiser Hussain, was made the acting Air Chief of the PAF. On 19 March 2003, Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat, then deputy chief of air staff (personnel), was chosen over Hussain and Air Marshal Sarfraz Arshad Toor, air officer commanding, Air Defence Command (ADC), as the new chief of Pakistan Air Force.

Achievements

The

JF-17 Thunder The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder (), or FC-1 ''Xiaolong'' (), is a fourth-generation, lightweight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. ...

program under Kaleem Saadat was throttled into full gear. It was during this time that the aircraft prototype was unveiled; it flew some hours, with semi-production starting in 2005. The Air Headquarters were shifted to its permanent location in Islamabad after having stayed in Karachi, Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The PAF achieved its best Flight Safety record of its history when in the Year 2004, it had the lowest major aircraft accident rate. The PAF had the largest ever flying operations Exercise Highmark 2005 after nearly ten years' gap as well as holding its first ever tri-service wargame titled Tempest-I. Saadat is a recipient of

Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (), also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the ...

(Military),

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

(Military),

Hilal-e-Imtiaz The ''Hilal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled as ''Hilal-i-Imtiaz,'' is the second-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") Awards and decorations of the Pakistan military, civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military Officer (armed fo ...

(Military) and

Nishan-e-Imtiaz The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (; ) is one of the state organized Civil decorations of Pakistan, civil decorations of Pakistan. It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or outstanding service for the country. However, the awa ...

(Military). In addition, he was decorated with the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(''Legion of Honour'') on 13 July 2005 for the "excellent cooperation existing between French defence industries related to aeronautics and the Pakistan Air Force, which happens to maintain the most important fleet of Mirages in the world, after France, and acknowledges the impulse given personally by the Chief of Air Staff."

Retirement

In March 2006, ACM Kaleem Saadat's three-year term expired and he was replaced by the then Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal

Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed (Urdu: تنویر محمود احمد;) is a retired air chief of the Pakistan Air Force who was the Chief of the Air Staff from 2006 to 2009. He was succeeded by Rao Qamar Suleman on 18 March 2009.think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

founded by the

with specializations in the domains of aerospace, aviation, security, doctrine, and economics. CASS was inaugurated by Air Chief Marshall Mujahid Anwar Khan in July 2019.Air chief inaugurates 'centre for aerospace and security studies'. ''The News''. Accessed 25 September 2019.
/ref>

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links

PAF s' Chief of Air Staffs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saadat, Kaleem 1951 births Living people Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan Pakistani military aviators National Defence University, Pakistan alumni PAF Air War College alumni Academic staff of the National Defence University, Pakistan Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 People from Faisalabad PAF College Sargodha alumni