Three more Soviet Afghan planes fall victim to PAF Tail Choppers, The F-16 Squadron No. 14
Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood (No.14Sqn)
Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood have three Soviet-Afghan aircraft kills to his credit.
Flt Lt Khalid Mehmood (RIGHT) being present Ak-47 from Lt.Gen Ghazi-Ud-Din.
Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood's F-16
The details are as follow:
On
12th September,1988, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood (No.14Sqn) scrambled from Kamra at 700hrs.He was flying lead in F-16A (Sr.No 85728). He shot down a Soviet Mig-23MLD over Nawagai ,while he was in an altitude of 135 degrees of bank (ie near inverted) at 33,000 ft. His AIM-9L smashed the No.4 aircraft.
On
3rd November,1988, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood & Sqn Ldr Ehetsham Zakariya (No.14Sqn) spotted 6 Afghani Sukhois ( 3 on ground support and 3 flying top cover ) in Tull, near Kohat. Flt Lt Khalid was flying No.2 in F-16A Sr. No 84-717.
Khalid obtained a lock on the No. 2 aircraft, which was flying on the southern side of the formation. The F-16 lead pilot obtained a visual tally, with Khalid following suit moments later. At this time both F-16s were still at 10,000 ft while the bandit - which was confirmed as a Su-22 was some 7000 ft higher.
Khalid's lead elected to press home his attack, but the Su-22 pilot then showed good tactical sense by turning to face the threat. This prevented the first F-16 from getting off a missile, although that its pilot had experienced some difficulty with his Sidewinder which may have prevented him from engaging.
In choosing to evade the threat posed by the leading F-16, the Su-22 pilot placed himself at the risk of attack by Khalid, who wasted no time in making a hard right turn into the Su-22. He duly launched an AIM-9L from a range of 2.7 nm in a head-on pass. While all that was going on, the lead F-16 began maneuvering into a position which would enable him to engage the Su-22 with gunfire from a six-o'clock position. He still had some way to go when Khalid's Sidewinder struck home , smoke and panels falling from the damaged fighter, which continued flying about 10 nm inside Pakistan.
Khalid realised very quickly that the Su-22 was damaged. he waited a few more seconds before launching another AIM-9L at an aspect angle of about 150-160 degrees, this barely leaving the rail before the enemy pilot ejected . This missile also scored a direct hit, causing the Su-22 to break in two and headed earthwards on fire. The Afghani pilot was captured after bailing out and taken POW.
On
31st January ,1989, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood (No.14Sqn) while flying solo night 'hot' scramble in F-16B was directed to investigate a border violation near Bannu and he duly headed towards the area at 10,000 ft under GCI direction. As Khalid moved closer under GCI control, the aircraft put its lights on and was revealed to be An-24. Under the rules of engagement then in fore, Khalid was directed to let it go, so he pulled up and began flying above it, advising GCI that it looked like the An-24 was planning to land. Ultimately the transport made an approach to the River Kuram ( a dried-up river bed) and the pilot may have been under the impression that it was paved runway.
Moments after touching down, the An-24 Struck a palm tree and engulfed in a massive explosion, followed by numerous detonations as the load of ammunition it was carrying 'cooked-off' in the intense heat .
This is regarded as 'Manoeuvre' Kill.
Then Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood is now a Group Captain and is serving in the Project JF-17 Thunder.