Pakistan Air Force | News & Discussions.

[nomi007]

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan Air Force celebrates Independence Day
Friday, August 15, 2014


ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force joined hands with the nation to celebrate the Independence Day of the country with due fervour and dignity.
The day commenced with offering of special prayers in mosques of Pakistan Air Force all over the country after the Fajar prayers. All airmen and civilian staff of Pakistan Air Force, assembled at their respective Bases, Units and Headquarters to sing Pakistan’s National Anthem. The flag hoisting ceremony was held at Air Headquarters, Islamabad. Air Vice Marshal Junaid Ahmed Siddiqui hoisted national flag and read out the air chief’s message of the day.
Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, said in his message, “While drawing perpetual guidance from Quaid’s vision, Pakistan Air Force has made earnest efforts to modernise its fleet to meet the ever demanding challenges of the 21st Century. I feel great pride in reassuring you that the personnel of Pakistan Air Force are imbued with the unmatched spirit of sacrifice, devotion to duty and absolute commitment towards their sacred mission. May Allah Almighty guide our endeavours in fulfilling the onerous responsibility of responding to all national security challenges to our beloved motherland, in line with the wishes of the people of Pakistan!.”On the auspicious day of independence, similar ceremonies were also held at all PAF Air Commands, Air Bases and other establishments.

 

[fatman17]

Improved Security Measures Thwart Attack on Pakistani Airbases

Aug. 15, 2014 - 06:48PM | By USMAN ANSARI | Comments
AA Pakistani security personnel arrive to take positions after an attack by militants in Quetta on two military airbases in southwestern Pakistan. (BANARAS KHAN/ / AFP)Filed Under

ISLAMABAD — An attack in the very early hours of Friday morning on two Pakistani air bases was thwarted largely due to improved security measures that show the military has learned lessons from previous attacks, say analysts.

Militants belonging to the Pakistan Taliban’s (TTP) Ghalib Mehsud faction’s suicide wing, the Fidayeen Islam, launched simultaneous attacks on the airbases of Khalid and Samungli near the provincial capital of Quetta in Balochistan.

Samungli is a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base that shares a runway with Quetta International Airport, and Khalid is an Army aviation airbase that is 12 kilometers away.

Though the attackers, who are thought to have been of Uzbek origin, and some of the more feared operatives in or associated with the TTP, tried to storm the airbases using automatic weapons, grenades and rocket propelled grenades, they were beaten back.

Twelve were killed after gun battles with the defending police and security forces. Five suspected attackers have been apprehended.

Eleven of the defenders, who were from the Army, Air Force, Frontier Corps and Police, were injured.

Analyst, author and former Air Force pilot, Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail, says defenders learned their lesson from previous attacks.

“The security measures are based on several past experiences. The response was so swift that the intruders were stunned and shot in no time,” he said.

There had been “no damage to any asset whatsoever,” he said.

Analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank says a dedicated base protection force is being raised.

The Air Force is “in the process of raising a contingent of 7,500 personnel for the elite Special Services Wing [SSW] to protect the air bases, but it will take time to build this force,” he said.

“The SSW was established after the creation of Air Force’s Strategic Command, which is the custodian of nuclear weapons for the PAF. The SSW is responsible for protecting these assets.”

Khan says the new dedicated base protection force was born out of experience from previous attacks.

“After the attack on PNS Mehran and PAF Faisal [in 2011] in Karachi, and PAF Kamra [in 2012] the high command of PAF decided that bases can’t be protected and defended by serving officers and airmen.

“Therefore, the SSW has been expanded from 1,500 troops to 7,500.”

Though the new force will be used to protect static airbases, Khan says it will still be part of the elite SSW and the rest of Pakistan’s special forces community.

“SSW personal go through similar training and doctrine of force implementation as the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group. SSW personnel receive training at Special Operation School, Cherat for six to eight weeks,” he said.

Khan highlights that on this occasion the defenders did well even in the absence of the dedicated base protection force, as “none of the terrorists entered the bases” and that they were “eliminated outside the base perimeters, including one terrorist who was cutting through the barbed wire.”

However, he says some of the perimeter measures may need to be improved and a more robust barrier erected as the current walls and barbed wire are decades old. ■

Email: uansari@defensenews.com.

 

[fatman17]

TTP faction claims responsibility for attack on airbases in Quetta

By Syed Ali Shah

QUETTA: The Ghalib Mehsud faction of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the Samungli and Khalid airbases in Quetta in which 12 militants were killed by security forces.

Ghalib Mehsud is the leader of Fidayeen Islam which is the suicide wing of the proscribed TTP.

The number of dead militants involved in two coordinated attacks at Balochistan’s air bases reached 12, as two more dead bodies were found in Khalid airbase in Quetta.

Commander Southern Command, Lt. General Nasir Khan Janjua told reporters while visiting the location of the attack that six dead bodies were found in Khalid Air base and six were found in Samungli airbase.


Nasir Khan Janjua talking to media. — Photo by author

"They all seemed to be foreign nationals," he said.

Security forces thwarted the attack and also arrested one injured militant and shifted him to an unknown place for interrogation.

Balochistan police chief Muhammad Umlaish told media representatives that forces had concluded the operation in Quetta.

The police chief moreover said that 11 security personnel were injured during the operation that lasted for more than four hours. All injured were being treated in the Civil Military Hospital in Quetta cantonment.

He said 11 rocket launchers were recovered from the Khalid airbase while a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from the Samungli airbase.



"All entry and exit points leading to the airport and airbases are being strictly guarded," Umlaish said.

Responding to a question, he said the militants were spotted instantly.

Moreover, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said that the Samungli and Khalid airbases in Quetta have been cleared.

Imran Qureshi, the Superintendent of Police moreover told Dawn that the operation was completed in the early hours of Friday.

Security forces also detained five suspects in a search operation conducted in connection with the attack targeting the Samungli airbase.

"Police are interrogating the suspects,” Qureshi said.

"All dead terrorists seem to be Uzbeks,” Home Minister Balochistan Sarfaraz Bugti told Dawn.

Khan Wasey, a spokesman for Frontier Corps, told Dawn that the attack had begun with the militants opening fire at the air base and hurling grenades.

Wasey said the attackers had also fired seven rockets that landed in the premises of the two airbases.

More than 20 huge explosions were heard during the operation, police said, adding that the blasts were followed by intense firing.


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DNA tests of terrorists to be conducted

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The Balochistan government has decided to conduct DNA tests of all 12 terrorists killed by security forces during two coordinated attacks at Khalid Air Base and Samungli Air Base in Quetta on Thursday night.

Razaq Cheema, the Quetta Police Chief told Dawn.com that senior doctors recieved body samples of dead terrorists at combined military hospital on Friday.

"Within the next couple of days their body parts would be sent for DNA test," Cheema informed.

With regard to investigation of attacks, the Quetta police chief said that an investigation team comprising senior officers would be formed to probe into the attacks.

"We will get support from intelligence agencies as well," he said.

 

[Windjammer]

Alan Warnes @warnesyworld · Aug 14
Imagine four Tornados and Typhoons doing that across London's Mall! During Battle of Britain Day. Then all the complaints...

Alan Warnes @warnesyworld · Aug 14
Hear Pak Independence Parade impressed last night. 4 F-16s and Mirages across ISB in darkness with full afterburners and spitting flares!

 

[Thorough Pro]

here you go

 

[fatman17]

here you go

i can understand the night fly-past with after burners and flares but a mil-parade at night with poor flood-lights. then there is a security guard walking thru the parade ranks....what does that tell us....NS dosnt trust the armed forces.
independence day is a monumental affair which requires the same respect and honour. i guess times have changed.

here you go

reminds me of the former tattoo shows at lahore fort at night not a independence day parade.

 

[Thorough Pro]

My post was with reference to Allan Warnes tweets, I am all in favour of total "show of force", 23rd March style parade, and I hate cowards, all of them.

i can understand the night fly-past with after burners and flares but a mil-parade at night with poor flood-lights. then there is a security guard walking thru the parade ranks....what does that tell us....NS dosnt trust the armed forces.
independence day is a monumental affair which requires the same respect and honour. i guess times have changed.



reminds me of the former tattoo shows at lahore fort at night not a independence day parade.

 

[kaykay]

Question to Pakistani friends here.
How many aircrafts make a sqd in PAF? like in India usually 21 aircrafts make a sqd (16 signal seated, 2 trainers, and 3 reserve) except MKI because trainers are not needed for mkis as they are twin seated already. its an honest question so pls don't troll.

 

[fatman17]

Question to Pakistani friends here.
How many aircrafts make a sqd in PAF? like in India usually 21 aircrafts make a sqd (16 signal seated, 2 trainers, and 3 reserve) except MKI because trainers are not needed for mkis as they are twin seated already. its an honest question so pls don't troll.

it depends - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20. generally 16 or 18. for trg we have OCU squadrons.

 

[Windjammer]

PHOTO: AIR COMMODORE NASIR M BUTT

This is a photograph from when I was 19 years old, in 1963. The gentleman in the image is my instructor, Flt Lt Chris Salwey, of the Royal Air Force. He was on an exchange posting with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and at the time, I had to undergo fighter conversion and operational training on the F-86 Sabre.

In those days, basic flying training at PAF Academy, Risalpur used to be on a piston engine-driven propeller airplane called the T-6G. After graduation we had to undergo conversion training on jet engined aircraft on the T-33. I went on to have a forty year-career in the Air Force and I am a veteran of the 1965 war. I served as Defense Attache in the United States of America from 1988-1991 and I retired as an Air Commodore.

 

[Basel]

I have few questions i.e. Is there any exercise going on?? I saw 2 mirages flying very low and close, they don't fly like that usually and lead jet took sharp turn while other remain the course for while. also big turboprop planes were flying at night too, can't confirm which one C-130 or ZDK-03.

Is this due to situation in Islamabad?? PAF taking precautionary measures?

@Munir @Aeronaut @Windjammer

 

[Windjammer]

I have few questions i.e. Is there any exercise going on?? I saw 2 mirages flying very low and close, they don't fly like that usually and lead jet took sharp turn while other remain the course for while. also big turboprop planes were flying at night too, can't confirm which one C-130 or ZDK-03.

Is this due to situation in Islamabad?? PAF taking precautionary measures?

@Munir @Aeronaut @Windjammer

Where did you see this.....Karachi i presume, I am not aware of any major exercise in progress however they always practice missions and what you said about Mirages is usualy the procedure when the come into land.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

PHOTO: AIR COMMODORE NASIR M BUTT

This is a photograph from when I was 19 years old, in 1963. The gentleman in the image is my instructor, Flt Lt Chris Salwey, of the Royal Air Force. He was on an exchange posting with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and at the time, I had to undergo fighter conversion and operational training on the F-86 Sabre.

In those days, basic flying training at PAF Academy, Risalpur used to be on a piston engine-driven propeller airplane called the T-6G. After graduation we had to undergo conversion training on jet engined aircraft on the T-33. I went on to have a forty year-career in the Air Force and I am a veteran of the 1965 war. I served as Defense Attache in the United States of America from 1988-1991 and I retired as an Air Commodore.

is this yr information?

 

[Informant]

PHOTO: AIR COMMODORE NASIR M BUTT

This is a photograph from when I was 19 years old, in 1963. The gentleman in the image is my instructor, Flt Lt Chris Salwey, of the Royal Air Force. He was on an exchange posting with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and at the time, I had to undergo fighter conversion and operational training on the F-86 Sabre.

In those days, basic flying training at PAF Academy, Risalpur used to be on a piston engine-driven propeller airplane called the T-6G. After graduation we had to undergo conversion training on jet engined aircraft on the T-33. I went on to have a forty year-career in the Air Force and I am a veteran of the 1965 war. I served as Defense Attache in the United States of America from 1988-1991 and I retired as an Air Commodore.

Could you dwelve a little into the efforts of 65?

Thank you for your service.