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The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the
aerial warfare Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking tactical bombing, enemy installations or a concentration of enemy troops or Strategic bombing, strategic targets; fi ...
branch of the
Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...
, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of
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# ...
, with a secondary role of providing air support to the
Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
and
Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...
when required, and a tertiary role of providing strategic
airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of Materiel, supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material lo ...
capability to Pakistan. , per the
International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four co ...
, the PAF has more than 70,000
active-duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standing ...
personnel. PAF is the largest Air Force of the
Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
in terms of aircraft fleet. Its primary mandate and mission is "to provide, in synergy with other inter-services, the most efficient, assured and cost effective aerial defence of Pakistan." Since its establishment in
1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...
, the PAF has been involved in various combat operations, providing aerial support to the operations and relief efforts of the Pakistani military. Under Article 243, the
Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ; ISO 15919, ISO: '' Āīn-ē-Pākistān''), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. The document guides Pakistan's law, political culture, and system. It sets out the state's outlin ...
appoints the
president of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
as the civilian commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), by statute a 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 ...
, is appointed by the president with the consultation and confirmation needed from the
prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...
.


History


1947–1950: Formative years

The Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) was established on 15 August 1947 with the independence of Pakistan from British India. The RPAF began with a paper share allotment of 2,332 personnel, a fleet of 24 Tempest II fighter-bombers, 16
Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor aircraft, interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems we ...
fighters, two H.P.57 Halifax bombers, two
Auster Auster may refer to: Places * Auster Glacier, located in East Antarctica * Auster Islands, East Antarctica * Auster Pass, located in East Antarctica * Auster Point, located in West Antarctica Other uses * Auster Aircraft, a former British air ...
aircraft, twelve
North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...
trainers and ten
de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...
biplanes A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...
. Very few were available to the RPAF on the ground as they were scattered throughout the British India to be given and collected later on. Of these very few were in flyable condition so that they could be used. Subsequently, it also got eight
C-47 Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...
cargo planes which it used to transport supplies to soldiers fighting in the 1947 War in
Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
against India. First two H.P.57 Halifax bombers were delivered in 1948 and were used during 1947 War for night-time supply drop missions at
Skardu Skardu (, Tibetan script: སྐར་མདོ, ) is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...
and other northern areas of Pakistan. All received against allotted at the time of independence of Pakistan from British India. It started with seven airbases scattered all over the provinces.


1948–1954: Waziristan rebellion

After the
partition of British India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan is the Islam ...
, Faqir of Ipi, a pashtun separatist leader rejected the creation of newly created Pakistan. In 1948, the
Faqir of Ipi Haji Mirzali Khan Wazir (), commonly known as the Faqir of Ipi (), was a tribal chief and adversary to the British Raj from North Waziristan in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. After performing his ''Hajj'' pilgrimage in 1923, Mirzali ...
took control of
North Waziristan North Waziristan District (, ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . The capital ...
's Datta Khel area and declared the establishment of an independent
Pashtunistan Pashtunistan () or Pakhtunistan is a historical region on the crossroads of Central and South Asia, located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the Pashtun people of southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun cu ...
, with support from neighbouring
Kingdom of Afghanistan The Kingdom of Afghanistan (; ) was a monarchy in Southern Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the ...
. In response to the Faqir's rebellion, Pakistan Air Force in June 1949 inadvertently bombed the Afghan village of Mughalgai on the
Waziristan Waziristan (Persian language, Persian, Pashto, Ormuri, , ) is a mountainous region of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Waziristan region administratively splits among three districts: North Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan Dis ...
border with Afghanistan while chasing the
Pashtunistan Pashtunistan () or Pakhtunistan is a historical region on the crossroads of Central and South Asia, located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the Pashtun people of southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun cu ...
separatists who attacked Pakistani border posts from Afghanistan, this attack came to known as Mughalgai raid which left 23 separatists dead and further fuelled Afghan support for Pashtunistan. Faqir established Gurwek as headquarters for his activities. Faqir also established a rifle factory in Gurwek with the material support provided by the government of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. In 1953–1954, the PAF's No. 14 Squadron led an operation from Miranshah airbase and heavily bombarded the
Faqir of Ipi Haji Mirzali Khan Wazir (), commonly known as the Faqir of Ipi (), was a tribal chief and adversary to the British Raj from North Waziristan in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. After performing his ''Hajj'' pilgrimage in 1923, Mirzali ...
's compound in Gurwek which ultimately forced Faqir to detach from an armed campaign against Pakistan.


1959 Indian aerial intrusion

On 10 April 1959, on the occasion of the
Eid ul-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the ...
festival holiday 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# ...
, an
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 ...
(IAF)
English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havilla ...
B(I)58 of No. 106 Squadron entered Pakistani airspace on a
photo reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of image ...
mission. Two PAF F-86F Sabres ( Flt. Lt. M. N. Butt (leader) and Flt. Lt. M. Yunis) of No. 15 Squadron on Air Defence Alert (ADA) were scrambled from
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 ...
to intercept the IAF aircraft. Butt attempted to bring down the Canberra by firing his Sabre's machine guns, but the Canberra was flying at an altitude of more than 50,000 feet—beyond the operational ceiling of the F-86F. When Yunis took over from his leader, the Canberra suddenly lost height while executing a turn over
Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...
. Yunis fired a burst that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, marking the first direct aerial victory of the PAF. Both crew members of the IAF Canberra ejected and were captured by Pakistani authorities. They were subsequently released after remaining in detention for some time.


1960–1961 Bajaur Campaign

Between 1960 and 1961,
Royal Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Hota ...
troops along with thousands of Pashtun tribesmen from Afghanistan crossed the extremely porous Pakistan–Afghanistan border and entered the semi-autonomous Bajaur Agency of Pakistan in an effort to annex the region. The Pakistan Air Force sent F-86 Sabre jets in order to support the Pakistani Forces and local Pashtun tribesmen of Pakistan who were fighting the Afghan infiltrators. The F-86 Sabre jets also executed bombing runs on
Royal Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Hota ...
positions in Kunar, Afghanistan, thus leading Afghan forces to fall back to the
international border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...
. Although the Royal Afghan Air Force had seven
MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 an ...
squadrons and another
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...
squadron being operationalized, no known dogfight has been recorded between the two sides.


Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

The PAF fleet at the time consisted of 12 F-104 Starfighters, some 120 F-86 Sabres and around 20 B-57 Canberra bombers. The PAF claims to have had complete
air superiority An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...
over the battle area from the second day of operations. However, IAF
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 ...
Arjan Singh Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, (15 April 1919 – 16 September 2017) was a senior air officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the 3rd Chief of the Air Staff (India), Chief of the Air Staff from 1964 to 1969, leading the Air ...
claimed that, despite having been qualitatively inferior to the PAF, the IAF allegedly achieved total air superiority in three days. Many publications have credited the PAF's successes in combat with the IAF to its
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
-quality equipment, claiming it to be superior to the aircraft operated by the IAF and giving the PAF a "qualitative advantage". This statement has been refuted by some officials in Pakistan, who say that the IAF's
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...
,
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 ...
and
Folland Gnat The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic aircraft, subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical comb ...
aircraft had better performance than the PAF's F-86 fighters, without accounting for the obvious quantitative advantage that the IAF possessed."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 at FlightGlobal.com archives, URL: http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1984/1984%20-%200797.html?search=F-86%20Pakistan . Retrieved 22 October 2009
According to retired PAF Air Commodore
Sajad Haider Sayed Sajad Haider (26 December 1932 – 3 January 2025), better known by his aliases as Nosy Haider and Saviour of Lahore, was a Pakistani fighter pilot and one-star rank officer in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). He was also an author, columni ...
, the F-86 Sabre was inferior in terms of both power and speed to the IAF's
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 ...
. Air Commodore
Sajad Haider Sayed Sajad Haider (26 December 1932 – 3 January 2025), better known by his aliases as Nosy Haider and Saviour of Lahore, was a Pakistani fighter pilot and one-star rank officer in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). He was also an author, columni ...
, who flew with No. 19 squadron also stated that the F-104 Starfighter did not deserve its reputation as "the pride of the PAF" because it "was unsuited to the tactical environment of the region. It was a high-level interceptor designed to neutralise
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
strategic bombers in altitudes above 40,000 feet." Nevertheless, the IAF is believed to have feared facing the Starfighter in combat despite its lack of effectiveness in comparison to the IAF's fleet of
Folland Gnat The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic aircraft, subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical comb ...
s. According to
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 ...
n sources, the F-86F performed reasonably well against the IAF's Hunters but not as well against the Gnat, which was nicknamed the ''Sabre Slayer'' by the IAF. Per
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 ...
, most of the aircraft losses of the IAF were allegedly on the ground while the PAF suffered most of their losses in aerial combat, a claim that has widely been accepted by most international sources as "a stretch". The IAF ran a larger offensive air campaign by devoting 40% of its air effort to
offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...
air support alone. The two countries have made contradictory claims of combat losses during the war and few neutral sources have verified the claims of either country, as is the case with most India-Pakistan conflicts. The PAF claims that it shot down 104 IAF aircraft and lost 19 of its own, while the IAF claimed it shot down 73 PAF aircraft while losing 60 of its own. According to most independent and neutral sources, the PAF lost some 20 aircraft while the IAF lost somewhere between 60 and 75. Despite the intense fighting throughout the course of the war, the conflict was effectively a stalemate and inconclusive in its result.


Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

By late 1971, the intensification of the independence movement in erstwhile
East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...
led to the
Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...
between
West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...
and East Pakistan (later joined by India). On 22 November 1971, 10 days before the start of a full-scale war, four PAF F-86 Sabre jets attacked Indian and
Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...
positions at Garibpur, near the international border. Two of the four PAF Sabres were shot down and one damaged by the IAF's Gnats. On 3 December, India formally declared war against Pakistan following massive
preemptive strikes A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. I ...
by the PAF against IAF installations in
Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...
,
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...
,
Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located near the Thar Desert, 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilometers s ...
,
Halwara Halwara (; ISO: ''Halawāṛā'') is a township in Punjab state in India in the Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › file ...
and
Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...
. However, the IAF did not suffer any significant losses because the leadership had anticipated such a move and consequently, precautions were taken. The IAF was quick to respond to Pakistani airstrikes, following which the PAF carried out mostly defensive sorties. Hostilities officially ended at 14:30 GMT on 17 December, after the fall of
Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
on 15 December. The PAF flew about 2,840 sorties and destroyed 71 IAF aircraft while losing 43 of its own.


1979–1989: Soviet–Afghan War

In 1979, the PAF's Chief of the Air Staff,
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 ...
Anwar Shamim Mohammad Anwar Shamim (); (1 October 1931 – 4 January 2013) was the Chief of Air Staff, appointed to the post in 1978 until retiring in 1985. Born in Haripur, British India, he was a career fighter pilot who participated in conflict with ...
, was told by then-
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
and
Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Army Staff or Chief of Army Staff, which is generally abbreviated as COAS, is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior staff officer or the chief commander in several nations' armies. * Chief of Army Staff ( ...
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 ...
Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...
, that Pakistan had reliable intelligence on Indian plans to attack and destroy Pakistan's nuclear research facilities in
Kahuta Kahuta ( Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a census-designated place, city and tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan. The population of the Kahuta Tehsil is approximately 220,576 at the 2017 census. Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta Research ...
. ACM Shamim told General Zia-ul-Haq that, in the PAF's current state, "Indian aircraft could reach the area in three minutes whereas the PAF would take eight minutes, allowing the Indians to attack the facility and return before the PAF could defend or retaliate". Because Kahuta was close to the Indian border, a consensus was reached acknowledging that the best way to deter a possible Indian attack would be to procure new advanced fighters and weaponry. These could be used to mount a retaliatory attack on India's nuclear research facilities in
Trombay Trombay is an eastern suburb of Mumbai (Bombay), India. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is located there. History In 1548, Trombay and Chembur Chembur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ͡ʃembuːɾ is an upmarket large subur ...
in the event of an Indian attack on Kahuta. It was decided the most suitable aircraft would be the
F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...
, which the United States eventually agreed to supply after the PAF refused to purchase the F-5. In 1983, when the first batch of F-16s reached Pakistan, ACM Shamim informed Zia of the PAF's increasing capability to effectively respond to an attack on the nuclear research facilities at Kahuta. Due to rising tensions with the Soviet Union due to its
invasion of Afghanistan Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States declared the war on terror and subsequently led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The stated goal was to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had exe ...
, Pakistan's ISI systematically coordinated with the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
,
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
and
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
to secure American resources and armaments for the
Afghan mujahideen The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...
who were combating the invading
Soviet forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...
. Various reports during this period widely indicated that the PAF had in fact covertly engaged in aerial combat against the
Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...
in support of the
Afghan Air Force The General Command of the Air Force (, Dari: ) also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The Royal Afghan Air Force was established in 1921 under the reign o ...
during the course of the conflict; one of which belonged to
Alexander Rutskoy Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy (; born 16 September 1947) is a Russian politician and former Soviet military officer who served as the only vice president of Russia from 1991 to 1993. He was proclaimed acting president following Boris Yeltsin' ...
. A letter of agreement for up to 28 F-16A and 12 F-16B was signed in December 1981. The contracts, ''Peace Gate I'' and ''Peace Gate II'' were for 6 and 34 Block 15 models respectively, which would be powered by the F100-PW-200 engine. The first ''Peace Gate I'' aircraft was accepted at
Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
in October 1982. Two F-16A and four F-16B were subsequently delivered to Pakistan in 1983, with the first F-16 arriving at PAF Base Sargodha (now known as PAF Base Mushaf) on 15 January 1983 flown by
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 ...
Shahid Javed. The 34 remaining aircraft as part of ''Peace Gate II'' were delivered between 1983 and 1987. Between May 1986 and November 1988, the PAF's newly acquired F-16s had shot down at least eight intruding aircraft from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. The first three of these (one
Su-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32; NATO reporting name: Fitter) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet Union, Soviet military. Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to ent ...
, one probable Su-22, and one
An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...
) were shot down by two pilots from No. 9 Squadron. Pilots of No. 14 Squadron destroyed the remaining five intruders (two Su-22s, two MiG-23s, and one
Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' ( ('' rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Ground Forces. The ...
). Most of these kills were by the
AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...
, but at least one (a Su-22) was destroyed by cannon fire. Pakistani Flight Lieutenant Khalid Mahmoud is credited with three of these kills. The PAF is believed to have evaluated the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
Dassault Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air ...
in early 1981 and was planning to evaluate the
F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...
afterwards.


1990–2001: U.S. arms embargo

After the
Pressler amendment Pressler (or Preßler) () is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Johann Valentin Pressler (or Bressler) - Immigrant from the German Palatine during the Palatine Migration of 1709. Variants of the surname among his descend ...
was passed, the United States placed sanctions and an
arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...
on Pakistan starting on 6 October 1990 due to the continuance of the country's nuclear weapons research programme. All eleven ''Peace Gate III'' F-16s, along with seven F-16A and ten F-16B of the 60 ''Peace Gate IV'' F-16s, which had been built by the end of 1994 were embargoed and put into storage on U.S. soil. Desperate for a new high-tech combat aircraft, between late 1990 and 1993 the PAF evaluated the European
Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...
MRCA (multi-role combat aircraft), and ultimately rejected it. France's Dassault Mirage 2000E and an offer from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
for the supply of MiG-29s and Su-27s were also considered, but no deal materialized. In 1992, the PAF once again looked towards the French Mirage 2000, reviving a proposal from the early 1980s to procure around 20–40 aircraft, but a sale did not occur because France did not want to sell a fully capable version due to pressure from the United States. In August 1994, the PAF was offered the Saab JAS-39 Gripen by
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, but the sale did not occur because 20% of the Gripen's components were sourced from the U.S., which was still maintaining sanctions on Pakistan. In mid-1992, Pakistan was close to signing a contract for the supply of 40 Dassault Mirage 2000s, equipped with Thomson-CSF RDM/7 radars from France, although U.S. sanctions also prevented this deal from finalizing. In mid-1994, it was reported that
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n manufacturers
Sukhoi The JSC Sukhoi Company (, ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and military aircraft. Sukhoi was founded in the Soviet Union by Pavel Sukhoi ...
and
Mikoyan Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, is a Russian aerospace and defence company headquartered in Begovoy District, Moscow. Mikoyan was the successor to the Soviet Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau (Ми ...
were offering the Su-27 and MiG-29, but Pakistan was reported to be negotiating for supply of the Mirage 2000–5. French and Russian teams visited Pakistan on 27 November 1994 and it was speculated that the interest in Russian aircraft was to pressure France into reducing the price of the Mirage 2000. The stated requirement was for up to 40 aircraft.


2001–2021: War in Afghanistan

The Pakistan Air Force is believed to have had a primary role in the alleged evacuation of
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
personnel by the
Pakistani military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the Military, military forces of Pakistan. It is the List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel, world's sixth-largest military measured by Active duty, active military personnel and c ...
from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. However, Pakistani and American officials have denied any such airlift taking place.


2008 post-Mumbai attacks air alert

After the
2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...
, the Pakistan Air Force was put on high alert in anticipation of any potential Indian accusations and offensives. It deployed to all its wartime locations and started routine combat air patrols. The speed and intensity of the deployment and PAF's readiness took the
Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
High Command by surprise and later reports suggest that was the main factor to influence the Indians' decision of not going for cross border raids inside Pakistan. The PAF was issued a standing order to launch an immediate counter-attack in case of an air attack from India, after a call from the Indian Foreign Minister
Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...
to the
Pakistani President The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the Government of Pakistan#Executive branch, executive and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Pakistan ...
Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...
(the call later turned out to be a hoax).


2011 U.S. raid in Abbottabad

An initial investigation report revealed that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) reported the movement of some half-a-dozen planes near the
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...
border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
at 23:00 before American helicopters entered
Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...
to kill
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
. "One aircraft was identified as a US AWACS and the remaining five were recognized as
F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...
jets of the US. These planes flew near the Pakistani border, but did not cross into the airspace of Pakistan," On the detection of an intrusion, PAF jets on air defence alert were scrambled and the PAF immediately took adequate operational measures as per standard operating procedure. The PAF aircraft continued their presence in the Abbottabad area until early morning and later returned to their air bases. However, the fact that so many non-stealth aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace, stayed for three hours to carry out a major operation, and that PAF jets only arrived at the location 24 minutes after the American helicopters had left made a senior PAF official term it "one of the most embarrassing incidents in Pakistan's history".


2001–2021: Counter-insurgency operations in North-West Pakistan

The
Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
faced several problems during its 2009 offensive against the Taliban in
North-West Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Paki ...
. Hundreds of thousands of
Pakistanis Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
vacated the area when the offensive was announced and, eventually, over two million had to be accommodated in
refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...
s. The offensive was to be completed as quickly as possible to allow the refugees to return to their homes but the army's fleet attack helicopters were insufficient to provide adequate support to infantry on the ground. The PAF was sent into action against the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
to make up for the lack of helicopter gunships. Because the PAF was trained and equipped to fight a
conventional war Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted by using conventional weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined and fight by using weapons that target primarily ...
, a new "counter-terrorist doctrine" had to be improvised. The PAF's ''
Saffron Bandit Exercise Saffron Bandit is a major "command level" combat training exercise, usually held either bi-annually or tri-annually, by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in Pakistan. The initial targets, mainstream goals and purpose of the exercise are foc ...
'' exercise focused on extensive training of combat personnel to undertake
COIN A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
operations. New equipment was inducted to improve the PAF's joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. A
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
transport aircraft was indigenously modified for day/night ISR operations. Use of laser-guided bombs was increased to 80% of munitions used, as compared to 40% in the previous 1960s
Bajaur campaign The Bajaur Campaign was an armed conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan that began in September 1960 and ended in September 1961. It primarily took place in and around Bajaur District in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Hos ...
. A small corps of ground spotters were trained and used by the PAF, in addition to Pakistan Army spotters, to identify high-value targets. Prior to the Pakistan Army's offensive into
South Waziristan South Mahsud Waziristan District () was a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, before splitting into the Lower South Waziristan District and the Upper South Waziristan D ...
, the PAF attacked militant infrastructure with 500 lb and 2000 lb bombs. A number of civilian casualties occurred during PAF airstrikes on 10 April 2010 in the FATA tribal region. According to sources from the Pakistani military, the first bombing was targeted at a gathering of militants in a compound. Locals who had quickly moved onto the scene of the first airstrike to recover the dead and wounded were then killed by a second airstrike. While there is no confirmed death toll, it is widely believed that at least 30 civilian deaths had occurred according to the military approximations, whereas a local official stated that at least 73 locals, including women and children, were killed. A six-member committee of tribal elders from the area tasked with finding the exact number of civilian casualties reported that 61 civilians were killed and 21 were wounded. This was not confirmed by
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
figures but Pakistan's then-Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, gave a public apology on 17 April. It is reported that
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
and several other media correspondences were not allowed to take interviews from the injured.


2019 Pakistan airstrikes in Jammu and Kashmir

Following the Pulwama attack in
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...
, India accused involvement of Pakistani hands in this incident. In response, India carried out
airstrikes An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...
in the vicinity of the town of
Balakot Balakot (; ; ) is a town in Mansehra district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The town was significantly damaged during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan. Geography Balakot is l ...
in
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 ...
province, several miles inside the province's boundary with
Pakistan-administered Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since ...
. Pakistan's military claimed that the Indian planes dropped their payload in an uninhabited wooded hilltop area near Balakot after being intercepted by PAF fighter jets. On 27 February 2019, when a standoff between India and Pakistan had begun, Pakistan claimed to have struck six targets near
Indian military The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...
installations inside Indian Controlled Kashmir, which hit open spaces through a codenamed "Operation Swift Retort". Indian Air Force jets were scrambled to intercept the PAF jets inside Jammu and Kashmir. Following the interception, a fierce
dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...
ensued and Pakistani aircraft shot down an Indian
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...
. Ten minutes before the 27 February airstrikes, an IAF
Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories in Russia, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russia ...
helicopter was shot down by an Indian Spyder missile, having been mistaken for a PAF drone. This resulted in total loss of the aircraft and death of all on board: two pilots (squadron leaders Siddarth Vashista and Ninad Mandavgane), flight engineer Vishal Kumar Pandey, sergeant Vikrant Sehrawat, and corporals Deepak Pandey and Pankaj Kumars, and one civilian on the ground (Kifayat Hussain Gani). In April 2023 IAF court martialled Group Captain Sumon Roy Chaudhry, second in command of
Srinagar Air Force Station Srinagar International Airport , officially named as Sheikh Ul Alam International Airport, is an international airport serving Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. ...
at the time of the PAF strikes for negligence, and he was to be dismissed, however the dismissal was ruled ''ultra vires'' by the
High Court of Punjab and Haryana Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64 Per ...
, who set a date of 12 September 2023 for their hearing The pilots were posthumously awarded the Vayu Sena gallantry medal. India stated that it had only lost a single aircraft (a MiG-21) while claiming to have shot down a Pakistani F-16. Pakistan rejected India's statement, stating that no F-16s were deployed. India also accepted loss of its Mi-17 helicopter in a friendly fire terming it as "a big mistake". Pakistan would later go on to accept that F-16s had been used, but maintained that none of them were shot down. Pakistan also claimed to have shot down a
Sukhoi Su-30 MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a two-seater, twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Ind ...
, a claim rejected by Indian authorities.
Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) 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. Wing commander is immediately se ...
Abhinandan Varthaman Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman VrC (born 21 June 1983) is an Indian Air Force officer and a fighter pilot, who flew MiG-21 Bison, and was on 27 February 2019 was captured by the Pakistan Army when his plane was shot down by the Pakistan A ...
, who was piloting the MiG-21 Bison, was captured and arrested by the Pakistani military upon being shot down. He was held for two days before being released at the
Wagah Wagah (; ; ), also spelled Wagha or Wahga, is a village and union council (UC 181) located in the Wahga Zone near Lahore City District, Pakistan. The town is famous for the Wagah border ceremony and also serves as a goods transit terminal a ...
-
Attari Attari, also spelled Atari, is a village of Amritsar district in the Punjab state of India, 3 km from the Indo-Pakistani border at Wagah. It is situated 25 km west of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, and is the last Indian station o ...
border crossing on 1 March. Initially, Pakistani military officials claimed to have had two pilots in custody, one of whom died while undergoing treatment, a claim which was later changed to having only Abhinandan in custody. This was taken to be evidence of a Pakistani pilot being shot down by some Indian sources. US count of PAF's F-16 fleet and various international military observers, refused to buy Indian claim of shooting down PAF's F-16.


2022 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan

At least 47 people were killed and 22 injured in two airstrikes by Pakistani forces along the border with Afghanistan on 16 April 2022. The Taliban summoned Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul and registered their protest against the military airstrikes inside Afghanistan. These airstrikes mark the first known instance of a foreign country launching attack on Afghan soil since the establishment of Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan.


2024 Pakistani airstrikes in Iran

At least nine people were killed when Pakistan Air Force conducted retaliatory strikes, codenamed as
Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar On 18 January 2024, Pakistan launched a series of air and artillery strikes inside Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, targeting Baloch separatist groups, codenamed Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar () by Pakistan. The attack was launched in res ...
on seven targets within Iranian Sistan-Balochistan province. The attack came two days after a similar Iranian missile strike inside Pakistani territory. According to Iran, nine foreign nationals were killed in the attack.
Baloch Liberation Army The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Balochistan region. Operating primarily from safe havens scattered across southern Afghanistan, BLA perpetrates attacks in neighboring Pakis ...
, one of the group targeted in the strikes, said that the strikes had targeted and killed its people. It was first strike on Iranian soil by any foreign power since the time of end of
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
in 1988.


March 2024 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan

On 18 March 2024, in response to the attack from Afghanistan, Pakistan Air Force carried out two intelligence based airstrikes on Afghanistan's eastern border provinces of
Khost Khōst () is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram Agency, Kurram i ...
and
Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...
. The Afghan government claim that Pakistan killed five women and three children. Pakistan denies this, claiming that it killed terrorists instead while targeting the Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group, a splinter organization of the
Pakistani Taliban The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current ...
, and that it had successfully killed Sehra alias Janan, a high-value target (HVT) commander. Another commander, Abdullah Mehsud, was claimed to have been killed, but later released a video refuting the claim. It was also reported that Mehsud's house was targeted in which his wife and a minor son was killed. Pakistan went on to blame the Pakistani Taliban and its splinter militias for the deaths of hundreds of Pakistani civilians, and claimed that they used Afghanistan as a base and that they had support from within the Taliban. These airstrikes mark the second instance of attack by Pakistan on the sovereign soil of Afghanistan in a period less than two years. The first similar Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil came in 2022.


December 2024 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan

On 25 December 2024, the Pakistan Air Force launched precision airstrikes located across seven villages of
Barmal District Barmal District (, ) is a district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It shares a border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistan. The Angur Ada is the official border checkpoint and border crossing between the people of Paktika and K ...
of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...
province killing 20-25 terrorists. Afghan Taliban claim that Pakistani strikes had killed 46 people, including women and children, while Pakistan denies this claim and maintains terrorist camps operated by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) were gutted. The villages targeted by PAF included Laman, Margha, and Murg Bazaar and four other villages of
Barmal district Barmal District (, ) is a district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It shares a border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistan. The Angur Ada is the official border checkpoint and border crossing between the people of Paktika and K ...
. Reports indicate that the Murg Bazaar village in Barmal was completely destroyed. According to Pakistani sources, the Pakistani airstrikes took four High Value Targets (HVTs) that included terrorists camps and hideouts of key commanders of TTP. The targets included the compound of senior ranking Commander of TTP Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis Yar's hideout, the Commander Abu Hamza's recruitment camp and Akhtar Muhammad alias Khalil's suicide bomber camp. All of these commanders were using camps for recruitment and training young child suicide bombers and terrorists. The fourth target struck by PAF was "Umar Media" cell of TTP, being headed by the TTP's commander Shoaib Iqbal Cheema alias Muneeb Jatt, from where the TTP propagated its digital propaganda to recruit suicide bombers. Afghan Taliban's Defence Ministry and the Afghan Taliban regime official spokesperson
Zabiullah Mujahid Zabihullah Mujahid (; ''Ẕabīḥullāh Mujāhid'' ; also spelled Dhabih Allah Mujahid) is an Afghan spokesperson who has been the chief spokesman for the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since 25 O ...
confirmed reports of the strike carried out by Pakistani forces, but claimed that the dead and injured included a number of children and other civilians. The PAF's strikes mark third instance of Pakistan launching attack on Afghan soil since the fall of Kabul. The Pakistan airstrikes coincided the birthday of Pakistan's founder and followed the PAF's 2022 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and 2024 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan.


Structure


Headquarters

* Air Headquarters (AHQ),
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 ...


Commands

*
Air Defence Command Air Defence Command was a command of the Royal Canadian Air Force and later the Canadian Armed Forces, active from 1951 to 1975. Originally, post-war plans called for air defence to be the responsibility of reserve, auxiliary squadrons only. Vamp ...
(ADC),
Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...
*Northern Air Command (NAC),
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 ...
* Central Air Command (CAC),
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 ...
*Southern Air Command (SAC),
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
*Western Air Command (WAC),
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
* Air Force Strategic Command (AFSC),
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 ...
*PAF Cyber Command (PAFCC),
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 ...
*PAF Space Command (PAFSC),
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 ...


Training establishments

*
Pakistan Air Force 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 ...
,
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 ...
*
Combat Commanders' School The Combat Commanders' School or CCS is the advanced air combat tactics development and training school of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) based at PAF Base Mushaf, Sargodha, Pakistan.Pakistan Air Force, ''The Story of the Pakistan Air Force: A Saga ...
(CCS), Sargodha *
PAF Airpower Centre of Excellence The PAF Airpower Centre of Excellence or PAF ACE is an airpower and air warfare research, planning, and development facility of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) based at PAF Base Mushaf, Sargodha, Pakistan. Operationally, PAF ACE has the status of a ...
(PAF ACE), Sargodha *
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 ...
,
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
* Air University,
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 ...


Weapons production establishments

*
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractors in aerospace and milit ...
(PAC), Kamra. *
Air Weapons Complex The Air Weapons Complex (AWC), operated under the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), is a Pakistani research and development entity. Established in 1992 by the Pakistan Air Force, it specialises in advancing airborne applic ...
(AWC),
Wah Cantonment The Wah Cantonment (; ) (often abbreviated to Wah Cantt) is a military base in Wah, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is a part of the Taxila Tehsil of the Rawalpindi District, Pakistan. It is the 24th most populous city in Pakistan by ...
.


Bases

The PAF has 27 airbases of which 19 are flying bases and 8 are non-flying bases. Flying bases are operational bases from which aircraft operate during both peacetime and wartime; whereas non-flying bases conduct either training, administration, maintenance, air defence operations, or mission support."PAF Active Bases"
''PAF Official Website''. Retrieved 28 February 2010


Flying bases

#
PAF Base Mushaf Pakistan Air Force Base Mushaf or more simply PAF Base Mushaf (formerly PAF Station Sargodha and PAF Base Sargodha), ) is a Pakistan Air Force airbase situated at Sargodha in Punjab, Pakistan. It is designated as a "Major Operational Base" (MOB ...
(
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 ...
) #
PAF Base Bholari PAF Base Bholari is a Main operating base (MOB) of the Pakistan Air Force located at Bholari north-east of Karachi in Sindh and is home to the 41st Wing. Inaugurated in late 2017, the installation is PAF's newest airbase which is controlled by ...
(
Bholari Bholari, romanised: ''Bholāri'', is a city situated in the Jamshoro District of Sindh, Pakistan. It lies approximately 8 kilometres southwest of Kotri, located between the Karachi–Hyderabad motorway in the north and the N-5 National Highwa ...
)
Jamshoro District Jamshoro District (, ) is a Districts of Sindh, Pakistan, district of Sindh province, Pakistan. Jamshoro city is the capital while Kotri is the largest city of the Jamshoro District. The district borders Dadu district to the north. To the east, th ...
,
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
#
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 ...
(
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
) #
PAF Base Rafiqui Pakistan Air Force Base Rafiqui formerly known as PAF Base Shorkot , is a Pakistan Air Force base located within the outskirts of Shorkot city in the Jhang District of Pakistan's Punjab province and around south of Islamabad. The airbase was n ...
(
Shorkot Shorkot (), (), is a city in Punjab (Pakistan) and serves as the capital of Shorkot Tehsil in Jhang District. The city is renowned for the tombs of several prominent Sufism, Sufi saints, including Sultan Bahoo, Syed Akbar Ali Shah Gilani, Syed ...
) #
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 ...
(Peshawar) #
PAF Base Murid Pakistan Air Force Base Murid or more simply PAF Base Murid () is an operational flying base of the Pakistan Air Force located near the village of Murid in the Chakwal District of Punjab. It houses the UCAV and UAV fleet of the PAF. History ...
(
Chakwal Chakwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ) is a city in Chakwal District in the Potohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the Largest cities of Pakistan, 48th largest city of Pakistan by population. Chakwal is located 90 kilometres south-west o ...
) #
PAF Base Samungli Pakistan Air Force Base Samungli or more simply PAF Base Samungli () is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) airbase located adjacent to Quetta International Airport, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Originally used as a forward operating locatio ...
(
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
) # PAF Base M.M. Alam (
Mianwali Mianwali (Saraiki language, Saraiki, ) city in Mianwali Tehsil is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. The Largest cities of Pakistan, 81st most populous city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse popu ...
) #
PAF Base Minhas Pakistan Air Force Base Minhas is a Pakistan Air Force Airbase located at (Kamra Cantt) Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan. It was named in the honour of Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas, who was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider for valor in the Indo-Pa ...
( Kamra) #
PAF Base Nur Khan PAF Base Nur Khan (originally founded as RAF Chaklala and formerly known as PAF Station Chaklala and PAF Base Chaklala) is a major Pakistan Air Force airbase located in Chaklala, Rawalpindi, Punjab province. The former Benazir Bhutto Internat ...
(Rawalpindi) #
PAF Base Faisal Pakistan Air Force Base Faisal (Urdu: ), founded as RAF Drigh Road, previously known as PAF Station Drigh Road, and is now called Shahrah-e-Faisal. This air force base is located at Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. In 1975, it was named after the lat ...
(Karachi) # PAF Base Risalpur (Pakistan Air Force Academy) (
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 ...
) #
PAF Base Shahbaz Pakistan Air Force Base Shahbaz ( , lit. ''Shahbaz Airbase'') is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base and airport, which the PAF and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) operate jointly. It is located in the town of Jacobabad at the northern par ...
(
Jacobabad Jacobabad, also known as Khanger, is a city in Sindh, Pakistan, serving as both the capital city of Jacobabad District and the administrative centre of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city itself is subd ...
) # PAF Base Farid (Rajanpur) # PAF Base Vehari (Vehari) # PAF Base Qadri (
Skardu Skardu (, Tibetan script: སྐར་མདོ, ) is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...
) # PAF Base Sindhri (Mirpur Khas) # PAF Base Talhar (Badin) # PAF Base Multan (
Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...
)


Non-flying bases

* PAF Base Korangi Creek (Karachi) *
PAF Base Malir PAF (Pakistan Air Force) Base Malir is a non-flying Pakistan Air Force Base. The Malir base was originally built by British during the World War II as the last line of defense against the Wehrmacht. After the war, it was used as the processing area ...
(Karachi) *PAF Base Lower Topa (
Murree Murree () is a mountain resort city in the northernmost region of the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Lying in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range under the western Himalayas, it forms the outskirts of the Islamabad–Rawal ...
) *
PAF Base Kallar Kahar 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 requi ...
(
Kallar Kahar Kallar Kahar () is a town and subdivision (Tehsil) of Chakwal District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Kallar Kahar Tehsil.PAF Base Kohat (
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 ...
) * PAF Base Lahore (Lahore) *PAF Base Sakesar (
Sakesar Sakesar ( Punjabi, Urdu: سكيسر) is the highest mountain in the Salt Range in Punjab, Pakistan. Its height is . It lies on the outer fringes of the Soon Valley in Khushab District in the Punjab province. The small village of Sakesar is name ...
) *PAF Base Kalabagh (
Nathia Gali Nathia Gali or Nathiagali () is a hill station and mountain resort town located in the Abbottabad District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located at the centre of the Galyat range, where several hill stations are situated. Nathia ...
)


Squadrons


Rank structure


Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of
commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
s.


Other ranks

The rank insignia of
non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...
s and
enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...
. Civilian occupations *Gazetted Officer * Steganographer *
Stenotypist Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...
* Warehouse and Factory Personnel *
Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...


Special forces

The Pakistan Air Force's Special Services Wing (SSW) is the branch's elite
special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...
fighting force. Originally coming into existence following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the SSW is heavily modelled off of the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
's Special Tactics Squadrons with some elements inspired by the
United States Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...
. The unit remained active but saw little prioritization by the
Pakistani military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the Military, military forces of Pakistan. It is the List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel, world's sixth-largest military measured by Active duty, active military personnel and c ...
until after the
Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...
. In late 1999, the SSW was largely revived and restructured for active service and is currently fielding around 1,200 troops.


Women in the Pakistan Air Force


Religious minorities in the Pakistan Air Force

Since its inception, religious minorities have been free to pursue careers within the Pakistan Armed Forces, with the exception of
Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
until 2001. Following its involvement in the global
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
-led War on Terror, Pakistan released the Hindu minority in the country from the discriminatory law and granted them the same freedoms that were already present for their
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
,
Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
and other various
counterparts Counterpart or Counterparts may refer to: Entertainment and literature * "Counterparts" (short story), by James Joyce * Counterparts, former name for the Reel Pride LGBT film festival * ''Counterparts'' (film), a 2007 German drama * ''Counter ...
. Some notable religious minority figures in the Pakistan Air Force include: Air Vice Marshal Eric Gordon Hall, a Christian who served as the
Base Commander The base commander is the officer assigned to command a military base. In the United States armed forces, a base commander is generally at least an O-6 grade officer, which means colonel (Army, Air Force, Marines) or captain (Navy, Coast Guard). ...
of Chaklala Air Base during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Air Commodore
Nazir Latif Nazir Latif SJ and Bar (10 July 1927 – 30 June 2011) was an air commodore in the Pakistan Air Force and a former director-general of the Operations and Plans at the Air Headquarters, Islamabad. Latif was one of the distinguished Christian pi ...
and Group Captain
Cecil Chaudhry Cecil Chaudhry (Urdu:; 27 August 1941 – 13 April 2012) was a Pakistani academic, human rights activist, and a veteran fighter pilot. As a flight lieutenant, he fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and as a squadron leader in the I ...
(both Christians) fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and later helped establish the
Combat Commanders School The Combat Commanders' School or CCS is the advanced air combat tactics development and training school of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) based at PAF Base Mushaf, Sargodha, Pakistan.Pakistan Air Force, ''The Story of the Pakistan Air Force: A Saga ...
(CCS).
Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) 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. Wing commander is immediately se ...
Melvin Leslie Middlecoat was the Commanding Officer of No. 9 Squadron during the 1965 war, he and Squadron Leader Peter Christy fought and were KIA in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Patrick Desmond Callaghan Patrick Desmond Callaghan (16 July 1926 – 6 April 1992) was a two-star air marshal in the Pakistan Air Force who is credited for his pioneering work in flight safety in Pakistan and his role during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He is on ...
was another Christian officer who rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal. Wing Commander Ronald Felix has been a notable Christian pilot known for being the first to fly the jointly-built
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
and Pakistani
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. ...
fighter jet since 2010 and was one of two PAF pilots flying the JF-17 at th
2011 Izmir Air Show
in
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 ...
. In 2020, the Pakistan Air Force recruited Rahul Dev, a Hindu from
Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...
,
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
in a major breakthrough for the Hindu minority from this remote distant area of
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
. He was commissioned as a general duty pilot officer on 6 May 2020.


Equipment


Combat aircraft

* Chengdu J-10C: The J-10C is a
multirole combat aircraft A multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) is a combat aircraft intended to perform different roles in combat. These roles can include air to air combat, air support, aerial bombing, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and suppression of air def ...
. The PAF have ordered at least 25 aircraft on 25 June 2021, with the number is expected to rise to at least 36. In March 2022, the initial batches of J-10s began to arrive in Pakistan, with at least 12 aircraft in operation in September 2022. * PAC/CAC JF-17 Thunder: A
multirole combat aircraft A multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) is a combat aircraft intended to perform different roles in combat. These roles can include air to air combat, air support, aerial bombing, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and suppression of air def ...
produced by
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# ...
with
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
assistance, the JF-17 was developed to replace Pakistan's aging fleets of A-5C, F-7P/PG,
Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...
, and
Mirage 5 The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft/fighter-bomber designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned seve ...
aircraft. Currently, 149 JF-17s are in active service with the PAF, comprising 47 JF-17A Block 1, 62 JF-17A Block 2, and 25 JF-17B Block 2 variants. A further 50 aircraft of the Block III model, incorporating advanced
avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...
systems and a new
AESA radar An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the ant ...
, are expected to be produced. In addition the PAF is also expected to order 26 of the two-seat JF-17B variant. The JF-17 is set to become the "backbone" of the PAF alongside its fleet of
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
F-16s. *
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...
: The F-16 Fighting Falcon currently serves as the primary air fighter of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in addition to its ground attack capabilities. The PAF currently has ≈75 F-16s in active service, comprising 44 F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU, 13 F-16A/B ADF and 18 F-16C/D Block 52+ variants. *
Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...
: Having been in service since 1967, the Mirage III, together with the Mirage 5, serves as the primary strike aircraft of the PAF. The PAF operates more than 80 Mirage III aircraft, comprising multiple variants including the Mirage IIIEP, IIIEL and IIIO fighter-bomber variants, the latter of which have been upgraded under
Project ROSE Project ROSE ("Retrofit of Strike Element") was a program by the Pakistan Air Force to upgrade the avionics of its aging Dassault Mirage IIIEP and Mirage 5PA fighter jets. These had originally been built either by Dassault Aviation in France, o ...
, the Mirage IIIRP reconnaissance variant and the Mirage IIIBE, IIID, IIIDL and IIIDP training variants, the latter of which have also been upgraded under
Project ROSE Project ROSE ("Retrofit of Strike Element") was a program by the Pakistan Air Force to upgrade the avionics of its aging Dassault Mirage IIIEP and Mirage 5PA fighter jets. These had originally been built either by Dassault Aviation in France, o ...
. *
Dassault Mirage 5 The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft/fighter-bomber designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned sev ...
: The Mirage 5, together with the Mirage III, serves as the PAF's primary strike aircraft. The PAF operates around 90 Mirage 5 aircraft of multiple variants, including Mirage 5PA, PA2, PA3 and 5F ground attack aircraft, the latter of which have been upgraded under
Project ROSE Project ROSE ("Retrofit of Strike Element") was a program by the Pakistan Air Force to upgrade the avionics of its aging Dassault Mirage IIIEP and Mirage 5PA fighter jets. These had originally been built either by Dassault Aviation in France, o ...
, the Mirage 5DR reconnaissance variant and the Mirage 5DD and DPA2 training variants. * Chengdu F-7PG: The Chengdu F-7 serves primarily as an
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...
, and around 140 aircraft are in service. The PAF has phased out its F-7P aircraft from active service, replaced by the JF-17 Thunder. The F-7PG variant remains the primary variant to remain in service with the PAF, while the two seat FT-7PG variant is in use as operational conversion trainer.


Special mission aircraft

*
Saab 2000 The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and able to cruise at a maximum speed of . Production took place in Linköping, Sweden. It ...
: The PAF has been operating the Saab 2000 using the
Erieye The Erieye radar system is an Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) developed by Saab Electronic Defence Systems, formerly Ericsson Microwave Systems, of Sweden. It uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology. The Er ...
radar as its primary AEW&C platform since 2009. Out of the original four Saab 2000 in service, one was destroyed and two were damaged in a
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
attack on
PAF Base Minhas Pakistan Air Force Base Minhas is a Pakistan Air Force Airbase located at (Kamra Cantt) Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan. It was named in the honour of Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas, who was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider for valor in the Indo-Pa ...
in August 2012. The damaged aircraft were subsequently repaired and put back into service. The PAF had ordered three more Erieye AEW&C aircraft from Saab with the first batch having been delivered in 2017. *
Shaanxi Y-8 The Shaanxi Y-8 or Yunshuji-8 ( zh, c=运-8, p=Yùn Bā) aircraft is a medium-size, medium-range transport aircraft produced by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation in People's Republic of China, China, based on the Soviet Antonov An-12. It has become on ...
: Four ZDK-03 variants, locally designated the
Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...
Eagle, are in service. They incorporate a Chinese AESA radar mounted on a Y-8F-600 airframe. *
Dassault Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both t ...
: The PAF operates three modified Dassault Falcon 20 aircraft with a primary role in electronic warfare.


Transport aircraft

*
Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
: The
C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
has served as the backbone of the PAF's transport fleet since its induction in 1962. 15 aircraft, five C-130Bs, nine C-130Es and one L-100, are currently in service. PAF C-130s have been upgraded with Allison T56-A-15
turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
s and extended fatigue lives. *
Harbin Y-12 The Harbin Y-12 ( zh, c=运-12, p=Yùn-12) is a high wing twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft built by Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG). It is the first Chinese-designed and produced aircraft to receive type certificate from the FAA in M ...
: Three Harbin Y-12 are operated as light
utility aircraft A utility aircraft is a general-purpose light airplane or helicopter, usually used for transporting people, freight, or other supplies, but also used for other duties when more specialized aircraft are not required or available. The term can al ...
by the PAF. * Gulfsteam IV: The PAF currently operates two Gulfstream IV-SP variants. *
Embraer Phenom 100 The Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 is a very light (VLJ) business jet designed and produced by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. Announced in November 2005, it made its first flight on 26 July 2007 and was awarded a type certificate in De ...
: Approximately four of these aircraft are in service with the PAF for transportation purposes. *
Cessna Citation Excel The Cessna Citation Excel is an American midsize business jet in the Cessna Citation family. Announced in October 1994, the Model 560XL first flew on February 29, 1996, certification was granted in April 1998, and over 1,000 have been delivere ...
: Currently, only one of these aircraft are used by the PAF.


Aerial refueling aircraft

*
Ilyushin Il-78 The Ilyushin Il-78 (; NATO reporting name Midas) is a Soviet/Russian four-engined aerial refueling tanker based on the Il-76 strategic airlifter. Design and development The Soviet Union's first dedicated tanker aircraft were variants of pre ...
: The PAF operates four Il-78MPs equipped with UPAZ refueling pods, procured from
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, as aerial refueling tankers. The Il-78 can also be used as a general transporter by removing the refuel tanks from the cargo hold.


Trainer aircraft

*
PAC MFI-17 Mushshak The PAC MFI-17 Mushshak (, ) is a license-built fixed-gear basic trainer aircraft manufactured by PAC. An improved version of the Saab Safari (MFI-15), the MFI-17 is manufactured in Kamra, Pakistan, by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). Bui ...
: The Mushshak serves as the PAF's basic trainer. The PAF operates 120 Mushshak aircraft, including the improved Super Mushshak variant. *
Cessna T-37 Tweet The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engine jet trainer aircraft. It was flown for decades as a primary trainer of the United States Air Force (USAF) as well as in the air forces of several other nati ...
: The PAF has operated the T-37 as a basic jet trainer since 1962, and these have been supplemented over the years with additional aircraft from
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 ...
and the United States. *
Hongdu JL-8 The Hongdu JL-8 (Nanchang JL-8), also known as the Karakorum-8 or K-8 for short, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed by China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. ...
: The K-8 is operated as an intermediate trainer, before cadets move on to conversion trainers. The K-8 is also operated by the PAF's
aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...
display team, the ''
Sherdils Sherdils (Urdu: ﺸﻴر دﻝ; English language, English: Lion Hearts) are an aerobatics display team of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The team is based out of the Pakistan Air Force Academy, Pakistan Air Force Academy Asghar Khan, in Risalpur, P ...
''.


Helicopters

*
AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139, now known as the Leonardo AW139, is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, now part of Leonardo. It is marketed at several differ ...
: Beginning in 2018, the PAF started inducting the AW139 to replace the venerable Alouette. The first AW139 unit became operational in March of that same year. *
Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories in Russia, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russ ...
: The PAF also operates the Mi-171, which serves primarily in CSAR roles.


Air defence systems

*
MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Spada 2000 – A medium altitude
air defence system Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...
consisting of a radar with a range of 60 kilometres and four 6-cell missile launchers that can intercept enemy missiles and aircraft at a range of over 20 kilometres. A contract for ten batteries was signed when Aspide was selected over competing systems from
Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...
, Diehl BGT and
Saab AB Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defense company, defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its de ...
after pre-contract firing tests in Pakistan with assistance from the
Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
. Reports state that Pakistan tested the air defence system in July 2010, following deliveries of the first few batteries. Deliveries of all ten batteries are reported to have been completed in 2013 with further orders possible upon immediate request. The missile system was tested by the Range & Instrumentation Division of
SUPARCO The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, commonly referred to as SUPARCO, is the national space agency of Pakistan. The agency, originally established in 1961 as a committee in Karachi, became an independent commission in 1981. Its in ...
in synergy with the PAF. Three drones were successfully intercepted and shot down by the missile system following extensive testing. * Crotale – With the procurement of the Spada 2000, Pakistan reportedly decommissioned most of its Crotale short-range air defence missile systems.Pakistan Targets Air Combat
Defense News (14 July 2008). Retrieved 8 September 2010.
However some modernized variants still remain in active service. * HQ-9B – In October 2003, it was reported that China had closed a deal with Pakistan to supply an unspecified number of FT-2000 systems, an anti-radiation variant of the HQ-9 long-range air defence system. However, in March 2009, a report was published stating that Pakistan was not considering importing the missile. It was reported in mid-2008 that Pakistan intended to purchase a high altitude air-missile defence system and the FD-2000, another variant of HQ-9, was expected to be chosen. In 2023 PAF inducted the HQ-9B variant into service with a reported range of 260 km. * AML HE 60-20 – A modified version of the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks#Military vehicles, Re ...
armoured vehicle equipped with a 20mm anti-aircraft cannon used primarily for on-base security. At least five were originally in service in the late 1990s.''African Defence Journal'': Article "Panhard Armoured Cars and Reconnaissance Vehicles in Africa". The Journal Publishers, 1981 volume, Collected Issues 5–16 p. 58.


Drone technology

On 7 September 2015, Pakistan became the fifth nation globally to develop and use an armed
unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircra ...
(drone), the
NESCOM Burraq The Burraq () is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) jointly developed and built by the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Development Since 2004, the United States (US) has been con ...
. Pakistan first started exploring drone technology when it acquired Falco drones from Selex Galileo for approximately $40 million in 2008. Since then, Pakistan has been developing variants of the original Falco drone in the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) in collaboration with the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
firm. The Burraq was developed which was based on the Falco's technology. By March 2015, Pakistan was able to test-fire Burraq armed with an air-to-surface missile named
Barq Barq (, "lightning") is a laser-guided air-to-surface missile developed by Pakistan. It has a range of and weight of . Operational history The missile was unveiled on 13 March 2015 being fired from the NESCOM Burraq unmanned combat aer ...
with pin-point precision. Burraq drones were used extensively to provide support to the
Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
during
Operation Zarb-e-Azb Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Pashto/ ALA-LC: ; ) was a joint military offensive conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces against various militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the East Tu ...
. Pakistan has already talked with
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 ...
to manufacture parts for Anka UAV and possibly to produce the combat drones locally. Also the CAIG Wing Loong II UCAVs will be produced in Pakistan with joint collaboration 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 ...
.


Modernisation and acquisitions

For a brief period, the Pakistan Air Force experienced a stall in modernization efforts, however this ended in April 2006 when the Pakistani cabinet approved the PAF's proposals to procure new aircraft and systems from several sources, including modern combat aircraft from the United States and China. The AFFDP 2019 (Armed Forces Development Programme 2019) would oversee the extensive modernization of the PAF from 2006 to 2019. On 24 July 2008, the Bush administration informed the
U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
that it planned to shift nearly $230 million of $300 million in aid from
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...
programs to upgrading Pakistan's ageing F-16s. The administration had previously announced on 27 June 2008 that it was proposing to sell
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
's electronic warfare gear valued at up to $75 million to enhance Pakistan's existing inventory of F-16s. Pakistan has asked about buying as many as 21 AN/ALQ-211(V)9 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite Pods (AIDEWS) as well as other related equipment. The proposed sale will ensure that the existing fleet is "compatible" with new F-16 Block 50/52 fighters being purchased by
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 ...
. After
9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, the U.S. and Pakistan began discussing the release of the embargoed F-16s and Pakistan's ability to purchase new aircraft. Of the 28 F-16A/B built under the ''Peace Gate III/IV'' contracts and embargoed in 1990, 14 were delivered as EDA (Excess Defense Articles) from 2005 to 2008, two of which were delivered on 10 July 2007. Between 2005 and 2008, 14 F-16A/B Block 15 OCU fighters were delivered to the PAF under renewed post-9/11 ties between the U.S. and Pakistan. These had originally been built for Pakistan under the Peace Gate III/IV contracts but were never delivered due to the subsequent U.S. arms embargo imposed on Pakistan in 1990. To upgrade the F-16A/B fleet, 32 Falcon STAR kits were purchased for the original ''Peace Gate I'' aircraft and 35 Mid-Life Update (MLU) kits were ordered, with 11 more MLU kits optional. Four F-16A/B being upgraded in the U.S. to F-16AM/BM had an expected delivery date of December 2011. F-16A/B in the PAF's service were to be upgraded starting in October 2010 by
Turkish Aerospace Industries Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (, TAI or TUSAŞ) is a state-owned Arms industry, arms company in Turkey. History On 16 August 1925 the Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company ''()'' factory was founded in Kayseri, Turkey. The company ...
, at a rate of one per month. The ''Peace Drive I'' contract for 12 F-16C and six F-16D Block 52+ (Advanced Block 52) aircraft, powered by F100-PW-229 engines was signed on 30 September 2006. The first F-16 to be completed, an F-16D, was rolled out on 13 October 2009 and began flight testing immediately. The first batch of F-16C/D Block 52+, two F-16D and one F-16C landed at
PAF Base Shahbaz Pakistan Air Force Base Shahbaz ( , lit. ''Shahbaz Airbase'') is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base and airport, which the PAF and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) operate jointly. It is located in the town of Jacobabad at the northern par ...
,
Jacobabad Jacobabad, also known as Khanger, is a city in Sindh, Pakistan, serving as both the capital city of Jacobabad District and the administrative centre of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city itself is subd ...
, on 26 June 2010. One more F-16C was received by 5 July 2010. On 13 December 2008, the
Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...
stated that two
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 ...
aircraft were intercepted by the Pakistan Air Force a few kilometers inside Pakistani airspace. This charge is denied by the Indian government. During talks with a delegation from the
French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...
on 28 September 2009,
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 ...
Yousuf Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...
stated that the PAF had used most of its stockpile of laser-guided munitions against
militants The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
in the Malakand and
FATA The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from Independence Day (Pakistan), 1947 until being merged with the ...
regions and that replacements for such types of equipment were urgently required. In December 2009, Pakistan saw the delivery of the PAF's first Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C from
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and an Il-78MP
aerial refueling tanker Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling (en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to anot ...
/
military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to m ...
from
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. The PAF was reported to be considering purchasing the Chinese Hongdu L-15 advanced jet trainer to train pilots for high-tech fighters such as the
Chengdu J-10 The Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon (; NATO reporting name: Firebird) is a Chinese medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft using a delta wing and canard design, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.8. It is produced by the Chengdu Aircr ...
. Extensive evaluations of the aircraft took place in Pakistan in December 2009. According to Air Chief Marshal (ACM)
Rao Qamar Suleman Rao Qamar Suleman () was the 12th Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force. The four-star ranked general commanded the PAF from 2009 to 2012. Earlier, Suleman served as Deputy Chief of Air Staff of Operations. He was succeeded by Air Chie ...
(then Chief of the Air Staff), the new fighters would eliminate the PAF's limitations in conducting precision night-time strike operations, as the existing capability was based on around 34 Dassault Mirage 5 fighters upgraded with new avionics for night-time precision strike missions under the Retrofit of Strike Element (ROSE) programme during 1999–2004. The SABIR (Special Airborne Mission Installation & Response System), a
FLIR Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...
system that has Brite Star II and Star Safire III EO/IR sensors installed on a C-130 saw extensive usage during the Pakistani military's operations against militants in the
FATA The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from Independence Day (Pakistan), 1947 until being merged with the ...
region. In 2021, Pakistan agreed to buy 36 Chengdu J-10CP multirole fighter aircraft from China to counter the
Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...
which India bought from
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. On 11 March 2022, PAF inducted modern
J-10C The Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon (; NATO reporting name: Firebird) is a Chinese medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft using a delta wing and canard design, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.8. It is produced by the Chengdu Aircr ...
fighter aircraft in its fleet, the formal ceremony was conducted at the Minhas Airbase Kamra. At a ceremony in January 2024, Pakistan announced its intent to acquire the J-35 aircraft.


Planned acquisitions

Mass production of the PAC JF-17 Thunder A Block-3, a 4.5 generation aircraft, is underway to replace the F-16 as the "backbone" of the Pakistan Air Force's arsenal. After every 3–5 years, newer blocks of the aircraft are expected to be produced. Pakistan has been in extensive talks with China to acquire between 40 and 60 upgraded fifth-generation
Shenyang J-35 The Shenyang J-35 () is a series of Chinese single-seater, twin-engine, all-weather, stealth multirole combat aircraft manufactured by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC), designed for air superiority and surface strike missions. The aircraft ...
stealth fighter Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 N ...
aircraft. The
TAI TF Kaan The TAI Kaan also called TF ("Turkish Fighter", formerly known as TF-X) and MMU (, Turkish for 'National Combat Aircraft'), is a stealth, twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter in development by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Th ...
, another fifth-generation aircraft under development by Turkey (intended to operate with critical assets such as the American
F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and att ...
) has also been a viable offer for Pakistan, as these fighters can greatly strengthen the PAF's fleet before the country's own fifth-generation fighter is developed under
Project Azm The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractors in aerospace and milita ...
. Pakistan is also reportedly working on developing a strong arsenal of
UAVs An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...
alongside China's CAIG GJ-2 MALE-UCAV.


Project Azm

On 7 July 2017, the Pakistan Air Force announced the development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft, a
medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/products/falco-xplorer Th ...
(MALE UAV) and munitions under the banner of Project ''Azm'' (
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
for resolve/determination). Air Chief Marshal (ACM)
Sohail Aman Sohail Aman ( ; born 10 June 1959) is a retired four-star rank, four star air officer who served as the Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan), Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force. He took charge from Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt on ...
stated that the design phase for the MALE UAV was in its final stages.


Military exercises

The Pakistan Air Force sent a contingent of six
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
A/B fighters to the 2004 international
Anatolian Eagle Anatolian Eagle is an air force exercise hosted by the Turkish Air Force and held at Konya Airport, 3rd Main Jet Base at Konya, Turkey. There are both national and international exercises held, the international exercises usually involving air ar ...
exercise in
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 ...
. In 2005, after around one year of planning, the PAF held the High Mark 2005
military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...
which lasted for one month and also involved the
Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
and
Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...
. The scenario saw two opposing forces, Blueland and Foxland, engaging in simulated combat which involved both offensive and defensive operations. It was stated that the exercise would consist of three stages and PAF aircraft would fly around 8200 sorties. The involvement of units from the Pakistan Army and Navy was aimed at providing more realistic operational scenarios. High Mark 2005 followed the Tempest-1 military exercise which was focused purely on
air power Airpower or air power consists of the application of military aviation, military strategy and strategic theory to the realm of aerial warfare and close air support. Airpower began in the advent of powered flight early in the 20th century. A ...
but differed in terms of the duration, intensity and complexity of all air operations being conducted. In 2008, the
Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...
sent five F-16C/D fighters and 50 personnel from 191 ''Cobras'' Squadron to
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# ...
to take part in the joint Indus Viper exercise at
PAF Base Mushaf Pakistan Air Force Base Mushaf or more simply PAF Base Mushaf (formerly PAF Station Sargodha and PAF Base Sargodha), ) is a Pakistan Air Force airbase situated at Sargodha in Punjab, Pakistan. It is designated as a "Major Operational Base" (MOB ...
. In the summer of 2005, a PAF team of 20
airmen An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...
, including
pilots 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 are ...
,
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...
s,
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
s, maintenance technicians and a
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
E was sent to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to take part in the AMC (
Air Mobility Command The Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, ...
) Rodeo. The PAF again took part in the AMC Rodeo two years later, in July 2007. In 2009, while undertaking combat operations against
militants The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
in the
FATA The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from Independence Day (Pakistan), 1947 until being merged with the ...
and
Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
regions, the PAF initiated the
Saffron Bandit Exercise Saffron Bandit is a major "command level" combat training exercise, usually held either bi-annually or tri-annually, by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in Pakistan. The initial targets, mainstream goals and purpose of the exercise are foc ...
exercise with the aim of training the PAF's entire combat force to undertake such anti-terrorist operations. In December 2009, the PAF sent six
Chengdu F-7 The Chengdu J-7 ( Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a Chinese fighter aircraft. It is a license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, and thus shares many similarities with tha ...
PG fighters of No. 31 Wing based at
PAF Base Samungli Pakistan Air Force Base Samungli or more simply PAF Base Samungli () is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) airbase located adjacent to Quetta International Airport, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Originally used as a forward operating locatio ...
to the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
to take part in the Air Tactics Leadership Course (ATLC)—also known as
Exercise Iron Falcon Exercise Iron Falcon are military aerial training exercises at United Arab Emirates Air Warfare Center. Various squadrons from various United States Air Force (USAF) bases and coalition forces participated in these exercises at various times. 2004 ...
at
Al Dhafra Air Base Al Dhafra Air Base (ADAB, , ) is a military installation in the United Arab Emirates. The base is located approximately south of Abu Dhabi, and is operated by the United Arab Emirates Air Force. Facilities The airport sits at an elevation of a ...
. The PAF's High Mark 2010 exercise was launched on 15 March 2010, the first time a High Mark exercise had been conducted since 2005, after all PAF received their Air Tasking Orders (ATO). The country-wide exercise involved units based all over Pakistan, from
Skardu Skardu (, Tibetan script: སྐར་མདོ, ) is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...
to the
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...
, at all Main Operating Bases and Forward Operating Bases. Joint operations involving the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy were also conducted, aiming to test and improve integration and co-operation between the three branches of the
Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...
. Operations emphasized a near-realistic simulation of a wartime environment, exposure of PAF aircrews to contemporary concepts of
air combat ''Air Combat'' is a 1995 Combat flight simulation game, combat flight simulation video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, and the first title of the ''Ace Combat'' franchise. Players control an airc ...
, new employment concepts and joint operations between the Pakistan Air Force, Army and Navy. New inductions such as 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. ...
, Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C and
Il-78 The Ilyushin Il-78 (; NATO reporting name Midas) is a Soviet/Russian four-engined aerial refueling tanker based on the Il-76 strategic airlifter. Design and development The Soviet Union's first dedicated tanker aircraft were variants of pre ...
MRTT also saw service in this exercise. On 6 April 2010, the end of the first phase of exercise High Mark 2010 was celebrated with a 90-minute firepower demonstration at the PAF's firing range facility in the deserts of Thal. The
H-2 SOW The H-2 SOW (Stand-Off Weapon) is a precision-guided glide bomb manufactured by NESCOM and deployed by the Pakistan Air Force, capable of striking targets at stand-off range. It has a terminal guidance system based on an infra-red imaging see ...
was also shown to the public for the first time, being launched from around 60 km away before hitting its target, and a mock
counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
operation was performed by participating forces. The demo heralded the beginning of High Mark 2010's second phase, where the PAF would practice joint operations with the Pakistan Army during its own exercise ''Azm-e-Nau-3'' (New Resolve 3). During High Mark 2010, a Chengdu F-7 and
Mirage 5 The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft/fighter-bomber designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned seve ...
fighter practiced landing, refueling and take-off operations from a motorway. It was reported that the PAF is in negotiations with the
Ministry of Communications A Communications Ministry or Department of Communications is a ministry or other government agency charged with communication. Communications responsibilities include regulating telecommunications, postal services, broadcasting and print media. The ...
to set up any required facilities for PAF operations on various motorways in Pakistan. In July 2010, the PAF sent six F-16B fighters of No. 9 ''Griffins'' Squadron and 100 PAF personnel to
Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...
in the U.S. to participate in the international Red Flag exercise for the first time. During the exercise, the PAF pilots practiced
in-flight refuelling Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to ano ...
with their F-16s using the
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...
. In October 2010, the PAF's No. 7 ''Bandits'' Squadron sent a team of its
Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...
ROSE A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
fighters to
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
to participate in the Falcon Air Meet 2010 exercise at the
Azraq Azraq ( meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory archaeology, Archaeologic ...
Royal Jordanian Air Base. January 2011 saw a PAF contingent of F-16A/B and Dassault Mirage fighters take part in the Al-Saqoor II exercise in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
with the
Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...
. In March 2011, a joint Sino-Pakistani exercise, codenamed ''Shaheen-1'', was conducted involving a contingent of
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
aircraft and personnel from the
PLAAF The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...
. Information on which aircraft were used by each side in the exercise remained classified, but photos of Pakistani pilots inspecting what appeared to be Chinese
Shenyang J-11 The Shenyang J-11 ( Chinese: 歼-11; NATO reporting name: Flanker-B+/Flanker-L), also known as Yinglong ( zh, s=应龙, t=應龍, p=yìnglóng, l=responsive dragon). is a 4th generation twin-engine jet fighter of the People's Republic of China ...
B fighters were released on the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. The exercise lasted for around four weeks and was the first time the PLAAF had deployed to Pakistan and conducted "operational" aerial maneuvers with the PAF.


Involvement in Pakistani society

The Pakistan Air Force, alongside other branches of the
armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...
has played an integral part in the civil society of Pakistan since its inception. In 1996,
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 ...
Jehangir Karamat General Jehangir Karamat ( ; born 20 February 1941) is a Pakistani former military officer, diplomat, public intellectual, and a former professor of political science at the National Defense University. Prior to serving as a Chief of Army Sta ...
described the Pakistani military's relations with
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# ...
's populace: In times of natural disaster such as the chaotic floods of 1992 or the October 2005 earthquake, PAF engineers, medical and logistics personnel alongside the rest of the armed forces played a major role in bringing relief aid and supplies to those who were affected. In addition to the PAF's involvement in relief activities at home, it has also helped the Pakistani military's responses to natural disasters in many other countries globally. The PAF was involved in the dispatching of relief to
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
and
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
after they were hit by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...
. Coordinating a synergized response, the Pakistan Armed Forces sent ships and helicopters with aid and personnel to assist in the international relief operation.


In popular culture

In
Pakistani literature Pakistani literature () is a distinct literature that gradually came to be defined after Pakistan gained nationhood status in 1947, emerging out of literary traditions of the South Asia. The shared tradition of Urdu literature and English lite ...
, the
shaheen falcon The Shaheen falcon (''Falco peregrinus peregrinator''), also known as the Indian peregrine or black Shaheen,Allama Muhammad Iqbal ''Allamah'' () is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great learned one. The title is carried by scholars of Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) and philosophy. It is used as an hon ...
. The bird also appears on the official representative badge of the Pakistan Air Force. Various Urdu-language drama serials on the PAF have been written, produced, directed, and televised nationwide. Notable
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
drama serials and films involving the PAF are ''Shahpar'' and ''
Sherdil ''Sherdil'' (Urdu: "Lionheart") is a 2019 Pakistani action film produced by NK Pictures. It is written and produced by Nomaan Khan, directed by Azfar Jafri, and stars Mikaal Zulfiqar, Hassan Niazi, Armeena Rana Khan and Sabeeka Imam. The fil ...
'', which were televised on PTV and
ARY Digital ''ARY Digital HD'' () is a Pakistani television network available in Pakistan. ARY Digital was founded by a Dubai-based holding company Pakistani businessman, Abdul Razzak Yaqoob and Salman Iqbal (ARY). The network is focused towards on Pak ...
, respectively.


Notable personnel

The
Nishan-e-Haider Nishan-e-Haider (NH; or 'Emblem of the Lion') is the highest military gallantry award of Pakistan. The Nishan-e-Haider is awarded only to members of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It recognises the highest acts of extraordinary bravery in the f ...
(), is the highest military award of
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# ...
, and is roughly equivalent in value to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
'
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
.
Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior 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. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...
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, ...
(1951 – 20 August 1971) is the only officer of the PAF to have been awarded the
Nishan-e-Haider Nishan-e-Haider (NH; or 'Emblem of the Lion') is the highest military gallantry award of Pakistan. The Nishan-e-Haider is awarded only to members of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It recognises the highest acts of extraordinary bravery in the f ...
for sacrificing his life to save an aircraft from being hijacked to
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 ...
. Other notable recipients of major military awards include: *
Air Commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
Muhammad Mahmood Alam Muhammad Mahmood Alam (; ) (6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013), popularly known as M. M. Alam, was a Pakistani fighter pilot and flying ace of the Pakistan Air Force. He is officially credited with having downed five Indian fighter aircraft in ...
 – awarded for downing nine fighters (of which five were downed within one minute) of 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 ...
in direct air-to-air combat.Alam's Speed-shooting Classic
. Defencejournal.com (6 September 1965). Retrieved 8 September 2010.
(
Sitara-e-Jurat Sitara-e-Jurat (, Star of Courage) is the third highest military award of Pakistan. It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a republic; however, it was instituted retrospectively back to 1947. It is awarded for gallantry or distinguish ...
) * Air Commodore Najeeb Ahmed Khan –
B-57 Canberra The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twin-engined tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1953. The B-57 is a license-built version of the British English Electric ...
bomber pilot who raided the Adampur Airbase several times during the 1965 war. (
Sitara-e-Jurat Sitara-e-Jurat (, Star of Courage) is the third highest military award of Pakistan. It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a republic; however, it was instituted retrospectively back to 1947. It is awarded for gallantry or distinguish ...
) *
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 ...
Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui (18 July 1935 – 6 September 1965) was a Pakistani fighter pilot. He is best known for his gallant actions in two of the aerial dogfights during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and is a recipient of both the Hilal-e-Ju ...
 – awarded for refusing to abandon his group of fighters during a battle despite his guns being jammed. He continued his attempts to assist his squadron in the battle by chasing enemy fighters until eventually being shot down. (
Hilal-e-Jurat The Hilal-e-Jurat ( , as if it were ''Halāl-e-Jurāt''; English: Crescent of Courage , sometimes spelled as Hilal-e-Jur'at, Hilal-e-Jurat, Hilal-i-Jurrat and Hilal-i-Juraat)Various official sources that are highly reputable spell the name of th ...
,
Sitara-e-Jurat Sitara-e-Jurat (, Star of Courage) is the third highest military award of Pakistan. It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a republic; however, it was instituted retrospectively back to 1947. It is awarded for gallantry or distinguish ...
) * Air Marshall
Nur Khan Nur Khan (22 February 192315 December 2011) was a Pakistan Air Force officer, politician and statesman who served as sixth commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Air Force from 1965 to 1969. He later served as the sixth governor of West Pakistan ...
– awarded for personally leading several operational missions that uplifted morale and enabled the air force to assert control over a larger and better-equipped enemy. (
Hilal-e-Jurat The Hilal-e-Jurat ( , as if it were ''Halāl-e-Jurāt''; English: Crescent of Courage , sometimes spelled as Hilal-e-Jur'at, Hilal-e-Jurat, Hilal-i-Jurrat and Hilal-i-Juraat)Various official sources that are highly reputable spell the name of th ...
)


See also

* Air Force Strategic Command * List of Pakistan Air Force bases * List of Pakistan Air Force squadrons * List of retired Pakistan Air Force aircraft * Special Services Wing – (SSW) * Pakistan Air Force Museum *
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractors in aerospace and milit ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force and general equipment
* ''The National Interest,'
How Pakistan's Air Force fought back after the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
{{Air forces * 1947 establishments in Pakistan Military units and formations established in 1947 Government of Pakistan