Pakistan Air Force Base, Peshawar is an

airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

of 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 ...

(PAF) located 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 ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, Pakistan. It is the operational site of the PAF's Northern Air Command, located to the east of

Bacha Khan International Airport Bacha Khan International Airport , formerly known as Peshawar International Airport, is an international airport located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located in the southwestern end of the city of Peshawar, it is the fourth-busies ...

, which is shared by both civil aviation flights and military flights.

History

The site was originally established by the British as RAF Peshawar. It was formerly used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

between 1918 and 1947. The first wing headquarters to arrive appears to have been No. 52 (Corps) Wing in March 1918, and then No. 1 (Indian) Wing from 1921-28. The first flying squadron reported at Peshawar was

No. 31 Squadron RAF Number 31 Squadron, known as ''the Goldstars'', is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. The Squadron lays claim to being the first military unit to fly in India, where it was based from 1915 to 1947. Throughout the Cold War, No. 31 Squadron was ...

between 31 October 1921 and 17 April 1923 with the Bristol F.2B Fighter, which came back between December 1939 and February 1941. The following other units were here at some point: * No. 5 Squadron RAF between 22 January and 3 July 1947 with the

Hawker Tempest The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the ''Typhoon II'', was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to a ...

F.2 *

No. 20 Squadron RAF No. 20 Squadron is the Royal Air Force's Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) for ground-based Tactical Air Command and Control, and Air Battle Management. It is part of the RAF's Air Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) and is based at RAF ...

initially between 5 January and 22 May 1925 with the Bristol F.2B Fighter, then returning on 12 October 1925 and staying on and off until 1 May 1942 operating the

Westland Wapiti The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service. First flying in 1927, the Wa ...

then the

Hawker Audax The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

and finally the

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...

II *

No. 27 Squadron RAF No. 27 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook from RAF Odiham. History First World War 27 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps formed at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome on 5 November 1915, being split off from 24 Squadron. Init ...

between 26 May and 12 October 1925 with the

Airco DH.9A The Airco DH.9A is a British single-engined light bomber that was designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, featuring a strengthened structure and, cruciall ...

No. 28 Squadron RAF Number 28 Squadron, also known as No. 28 (Army Co-operation) Squadron or No. 28 (AC) Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Based at RAF Benson, it serves as the RAF's Operational Conversion Unit for the Boeing Chinook HC5/6/6A heli ...

initially between 19 April 1923 and 5 January 1925 with the F2B Fighter, followed by detachments during 1931 and 1939 * No. 34 Squadron RAF detachment between June and December 1942 with the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

IV *

No. 39 Squadron RAF Number 39 Squadron is an inactive squadron of the Royal Air Force. It last operated the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper from Creech AFB, Nevada, between January 2007 and July 2022. It had previously operated the English Electric Canberra PR.7, ...

detachment between March 1929 and November 1931 with the Wapiti *

No. 60 Squadron RAF No. 60 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at HMS Sultan (shore establishment), Gosport. It is currently part of No. 1 Flying Training School RAF, No. 1 Flying Training School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire flying the Eurocop ...

initially between 29 May and 15 October 1925 with the DH.9A then between March 1939 and February 1941 as a detachment * No. 155 Squadron RAF between 1 April and 9 July 1942 * No. 659 Squadron RAF from 12 January 1946 then downsizing to a detachment from January 1947 operating the

Taylorcraft Auster The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison aircraft, liaison and observation aircraft produced by the Auster Aircraft, Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the Second World War. Design and development The Auster ...

V & Auster AOP.6. The squadron was disbanded on 14 August 1947. No. 223 Group RAF was located at the station between 1 May - 30 November 1942, and then from May 1944 - 15 August 1945. Nos 3 and 4 Squadron RIAF were operating from

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 ...

under No. 223 Group on 1 July 1942 and 1 January 1943. On 1 January 1943 they were both flying

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s. By 1 January 1943 they had been joined by

No. 215 Squadron RAF No. 215 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron formed as a night bomber squadron in the First and Second World Wars, becoming a transport squadron near the end of the Second World War. History ;First World War No. 215 Squadron was ...

flying

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...

s from

Chaklala Chaklala is a major suburban town of Rawalpindi in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province of Pakistan. It covers an area of (8,405 acres). The population of the town is 333,115 according to the 2023 census. Chaklala Cantonment is one of the thre ...

, though No. 215 Squadron was non-operational.

Units

The airbase is currently home to: * No. 17 Squadron "Tigers" * No. 26 Squadron "Black Spiders" * No. 81 Squadron "Kangaroos"

Notable incidents

* The airbase was the site of the 2012 Bacha Khan International Airport terrorist attack by the

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Durand Line, Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, i ...

(TTP), which left around nine people dead (including five TTP militants) and over 40 injured. * One day after the

attack, on 16 December 2012, an additional six people, including five militants and one police officer died and two police officers were wounded in a gunfight that broke out near the airbase. Pakistani security forces claimed that the militants, who were

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

, were accomplices of the TTP fighters who were killed on 15 December 2012 during the airport attack.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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