FIRST KILL FOR PAF

Flying Officer Muhammad Younus destroys an IAF Canberra over Rawalpindi. The date was 10 April 1959 and was Eid ul Azha.

PAF IN JORDAN'S DEFENCE

The painting depicts a Jordanian Hunter flown by F/L Saif ul Azam of PAF shooting down an Israeli Mystere IV A over Mafraq Air base Jordan, The encounter took place on 5th June 1967 during the Arab- Israel War.

PAF IN THE BATTLE OF SHAROORA

In 1969, South Yemen (strong ally of USSR at that time) attacked and captured Mount Vadiya in Sharoora Province of Saudi Arabia. PAF pilots (and officers and men of other branches) who were serving in Saudi Arabia, along with the Saudi pilots drove the enemy away. The painting depicts two RSAF Lightnings successfully carrying out the close air support mission against the enemy tanks. RSAF Lightnings and F-86s took part in that battle.

FEAR OF THE STARFIGHTER

The painting depicts S/L Brij Pal Singh Sikand re-entering Pakistani airspace in sheer panic.

On 3rd September 1965, a flight of 6 Gnats challenged 2 F-86s for a dogfight which had a cover of a fearsome F-104. F/L Yusuf received hits from Gnat flown by F/L Trevor Keelor while he was about to fire a missile at one of the Gnat. He managed to continue dogfighting with a damaged Sabre and for sometime, faced the enemy alone !!!. F-104 of PAF’s 9 flown by F/O Abbas Mirza, made supersonic runs to support F-86s. On seeing F-104, SL Singh shouted in Punjabi “Pajh oye…. 104 eeee” All gnats disengaged but Singh behaved strangely. He broke off towards Pakistan then turned towards India then turned back and re entered Pakistan airspace thinking it as India. He landed at Pasrur airfield and was our “guest” (POW) till the war ended. He claimed that he encountered problems relating to navigation, jammed guns etc. S/L Sa’ad Hatmi flew this Gnat to Sargodha, carried out evaluation flights and found the aircraft fit to fly and fight!!!! The aircraft is now on display at PAF Museum Karachi.

TIME FOR THE TURKEY SHOOT

The painting depicts S/L M M Alam taking off in his famous F-86F-35-NA on 7th September 1965 with F/O Masud as wing man, just after the Mysteres from IAF 1 Sqn delivered surprise but unsuccessful attack at Sargodha Airbase. There are still marks of Ack ack in the sky and seen in the background are F-86s parked opened unscratched.

Minutes later S/L M M Alam shot down at least three IAF attacking hunters and damaged two others in 30 seconds and became one of the most successful pilot with multiple kills in shortest possible time.

SHOOT THEM ALL

This painting depicts a pair of F-86 Sabre rolling out for takeoff on a Close Air Support Mission during 1965 War.

F-86s GREET THE ENEMY

The painting depicts a formation of PAF F-86s of No. 19 Squadron lead by S/L Sajjad Haider destroying Indian Tanks which were advancing towards Pakistan on GT Road. The encounter took place on 6th September, 1965 and within 20 minutes the Grand Trunk Road was littered with scores of burning tanks, and other support vehicles.

PATHANKOT ATTACK

This painting depicts F-86s of PAF's No.19 Sqn led by S/L Syed Sajad Haider, attacking IAF Patahnkot airfield on the evening of 6th September, 1965. Thirteen Indian aircrafts including two Mig-21s were destroyed in this attack. The Mig-21s were not seen active again during the war. Sabres counted 13 wrecks burning on the airfield. The attack was considered as the most successful attack of 1965 war.

END OF A SABRE SALYER

On 19th September, 1965, a formation of F-86s of No.17 Sqn carried on a close air support mission in Alhar (Sialkot- Chawinda) sector. While attacking Indian Centurion tanks, they were warned of the IAF’s presence, which turned out to be 4 Gnats of IAF’s 9 Sqn. F/L Saiful Azam quickly maneuvered his F-86 behind one Gnat and shot the “Sabre Slayer” down. The pilot of the Gnat F/L Maya Dev ejected and was taken into custody by Pakistan Army troops. F/L Saiful Azam was awarded Sitara-i- Jurat. The Gnat has infact not proved to be a real Sabre Slayer because in dogfights between Sabres and Gnats, Sabres shot down 2 Gnats and damaged 1 while Gnats shot down 3 sabres and damaged 1 (confirmed).

THE FIRST PUNCH

This painting depicts the F-86s of No.26 Sqn attacking IAF Srinagar Airbase on 3rd December, 1971. From then on, 26 Sqn Sabres continued to attack the airfield frequently causing considerable damage. The attack was led by W/C S A Changezi. On that evening, PAF successfully launched surprise attacks on 7 different Indian targets, including Airbases and Radar sites, achieving the desired objective without loss.

STARFIGHTER SCORES AN SU-7

On December 4th, 1971, S/L R. A. Bhatti scores a kill over Amritsar by shooting down an IAF Su-7. The Sukhoi pilot didnot survive.

SECONDS BEFORE THE END

5 December 1971, late afternoon, F/L Safdar Mehmood positioning himself for a shooting drill at an escaping IAF hunter of No. 20 Sqn. The hunter made an unsuccessful rocket attack on PAF Sakesar radar. The attacker was intercepted by PAF Mirages. The leader fired his 30 mm cannon and scored hits and then his wingman F/O Sohail finished him off through sidewinder.

SUKHOI BUSTER

The painting depicts F/L Salimuddin firing his two sidewinders at the escaping SU-7s. He shot down one Su-7 by missile and gunned the other Sukhoi. The encounter took place on 6th December 1971 near Jammu. The IAF pilot F/L Vijay Wahi ejected and was badly injured while Sqn Ldr Ashok Shinde managed to land his badly damaged aircraft back to base.

UTTERLAI STRIKE

This painting depicts PAF F-104s surprise attack on the IAF Utterlai airfield on December 11, 1971. The star fighters destroyed two Indian-made HF-24s in this raid.

THE MIG-23s KILLER

Flight Lieutenant Khalid Mehmood shoots down two Afghan MIG-23s attacking Afghan Refugee Camp on September 12, 1988.

PAF ON ALERT

The painting depicts an F-7P giving a high speed low level pass over Chaklala on 23rd December, 2008.

SHARP SHOOTERS IN THE BATTLE zONE

PAF F-16 destroyed terrorists hideouts in operation Rah-e-Rast.

FALCON'S DEADLY STROKE

Painting depicts a PAF F-16 shooting down an intruding SU-22 over Thal, Pakistan, during the Afghan War. The pilot of the ill-fated Sukhoi ejected and was captured. The date was November 3rd, 1988.

END OF A VULTURE

The painting depicts F/L Saif ul Azam of PAF in a Hunter of Iraqi Airforce, firing at an attacking Israeli Vautour. Seconds later, the Vautour crashed and its pilot Capt. Golan ejected. On one fine morning of 1967 Arab Israel War, a formation of four Israeli Vautour bombers escorted by a pair of Mirage, attacked Iraqi Airfield H-3. The formation was intercepted by four Iraqi hunters piloted by PAF, Jordanian and Iraqi pilots. Saif quickly shot down one Mirage (depicted in the background with ejected pilot) and then a Vautour. Another Vautour was also down by one of the hunters. According to Maj Gen Mordechai Hod, Commander of Israeli Airforce, the loss of three aircrafts of his airforce made him feel almost as if he had lost the war!!! F/L Saif had great distinction of shooting down four different aircrafts i.e Gnat of Indian Airforce (1965), Mystere, Mirage and Vautour of Israeli Airforce (1967). He was awarded Medal of Bravery by three countries (Pakistan, Jordan and Iraq). The hero later joined Bangladesh Airforce in 1972.