Pakistan Air Force Base Rafiqui formerly known as PAF Base Shorkot , is a

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

base located within the outskirts of

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 ...

city in the

Jhang District Jhang District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Faisalabad Division, Faisalabad division in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province, Pakistan. Jhang is the capital and administrative seat of the district. ...

of Pakistan's

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

province and around south of

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 ...

. The airbase was named in honor of

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 ...

, a war hero from the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war who is famous for fighting Indian

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 ...

s and covering his flight members in an

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

with jammed guns. It is the home of Central Air Command's 34th Tactical Attack Wing (34 TA Wing). PAF Base Rafiqui /Shorkot Cantt
GlobalSecurity.org website, Retrieved 5 October 2021

History

In the aftermath of the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war, the AHQ commenced a survey to enhance the already deficient infrastructure of the air force. The high command's survey concluded with the decision to construct an alternative base to the main

Sargodha airbase 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 ...

. For this purpose, two sites were chosen in 1966 for the new planned airbase at

Jhang Jhang ( Punjabi / ; ; ) is the capital city of Jhang District in central Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the 13th most populous city of Pakistan. Etymology The historical name of the city and dis ...

and

. The site at Jhang was preferred due to many factors but since there was pressure on the PAF not to construct a military base in such close proximity to the historic city of Jhang, the idea was dropped with the site at Shorkot was ultimately selected and in 1968, a small satellite station named PAF Shorkot was constructed. During the 1971 crisis, it was activated and received it's first base commander with 23 squadron deploying her F-6s there. The war made the PAF leadership realize the operational importance of the base and it was subsequently transformed into an MOB by 1973 and renamed PAF Base Rafiqui in honor of

, a fallen fighter pilot of the 1965 war who is famous for leading airstrikes on the Indian military and recipient of both the

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui: Shaheed of 1965 War
Fearlesswarriors.pk website, Retrieved 5 October 2021 Since the topography of the surrounding areas of the airbase was mostly barren lands, the base administration initiated a major development and forestation project which saw extensive transformation of the base's topography. Gardens, orchards, nurseries and plantations were grown which completely changed the base's overall geography.

2025 Indian Airstrikes

On 10 May 2025, the airbase was targeted by Indian missile strikes during the

2025 India-Pakistan conflict 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

though 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 ...

claimed it's air defences had intercepted most of the rockets.

Units

The base is home to the following squadrons: * No. 14 Squadron "Tail Choppers" * No. 25 Squadron "Eagles" * No. 27 Squadron "Zarrars" * No. 50 Squadron "Saf Shikan" * No. 83 SAR Squadron "Kites"

References

External links

Pakistan Aviation
Rafiqui Military installations in Punjab, Pakistan Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 {{Pakistan-mil-stub

History

2025 Indian Airstrikes

Units

See also

References

External links