PAF - related media quotes (including Chuck Yeager and more)

Society Military and Strategic Issues
1

The following quotes taken from international media sources prove
beyond a shadow of doubt that when it comes to the man behind the
machine, Pakistan’s fighter pilots are simply THE BEST in the whole
wide world:

“This airforce(the PAF), is second to none”
“The air war lasted two weeks and the Pakistanis scored a
three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made Indian jets
and losing thirty-four airplanes of their own. I’m certain about the
figures because I went out several times a day in a chopper and
counted the wrecks below.” "They were really good, aggressive
dogfighters and proficient in gunnery and air combat tactics. I was
damned impressed. Those guys just lived and breathed flying. "
(General (Retd.) Chuck Yeager (USAF) , Book: Yeager, the
Autobiography).
General Chuck Yeager, famous USAF test pilot, on deputation in
Pakistan as US Defense Representative. The PAF remains the only
foreign air force in the world to have received Chuck Yeager’s
admiration - a
recommendation which the PAF is proud of.

“He was a formidable fellow and I was glad that he was Pakistani and
not Egyptian”
(Israel Air Force chief and ex-President Ezer Weizmen writing about
PAF chief Nur Khan in his autobiography, On Eagles’ Wings).

“As an air defence analyst, I am fully aware that the Pakistan Air
Force ranks today as one of the best air forces in the world and that
the PAF Combat Commanders’ School (CCS) in Sargodha has been ranked
as the best GCI/pilot and fighter tactics and weapons school in the
world”. As one senior US defence analyst commented to me in 1991, “it
leaves Topgun (the US Naval Air Station in Miramar, California) far
behind”.
-Sergey Vekhov
May 1993 issue (pages 46-47) of Airforces Monthly, a reputable
UK-based air defence magazine.

The PAF, although outnumbered by IAF(Indian Air Force), has at least
one qualitative edge over its rival: Pilot Training. The caliber of
Pakistani instructors is acknowledged by numerous air forces, and US
Navy pilots considered them to be highly ‘professional’ during
exercises flying off the USS Constellation (as co-pilots).

-Jane’s International Defense (June 24, 1998)

“By all accounts the courage displayed by the Pakistan Air Force
pilots is reminiscent of the bravery of the few young and dedicated
pilots who saved this country from Nazi invaders in the critical
Battle of Britain during the last war.”

Patrick Seale,
The Observer, London,
September 12, 1965.

“Pakistan claims to have destroyed something like 1/3rd the Indian
Air Force, and foreign observers, who are in a position to know say
that Pakistani pilots have claimed even higher kills than this; but
the Pakistani Air Force are being scrupulously honest in evaluating
these claims. They are crediting Pakistan Air Force only those
killings that can be checked from other sources.”

Roy Meloni,
American Broadcasting Corporation
September 15, 1965.

The London Daily Mirror reported: "There is a smell of death in the
burning Pakistan sun. For it was here that India’s attacking forces
came to a dead stop.

“During the night they threw in every reinforcement they could find.
But wave after wave of attacks were repulsed by the Pakistanis”

“India”, said the London Daily Times, “is being soundly beaten by a
nation which is outnumbered by four and a half to one in population
and three to one in size of armed forces.”

In Times reporter Louis Karrar wrote: “Who can defeat a nation which
knows how to play hide and seek with death”.

2

there's no doubt that PAF is one of the best airforces in the world. PAF has proved its mettle even in peace time and has an enviable flight safety record which is among the best in the world today.
i salute the daring pilots, engineers, ait traffic controllers, technicians and all other men of honour who make up this elite force.
lets pray that PAF keeps producing these men of valour who'd do anything for the sake of the nation.

3

[quote]
Originally posted by alizadeh2000:
**The following quotes taken from international media sources prove
beyond a shadow of doubt that when it comes to the man behind the
machine, Pakistan's fighter pilots are simply THE BEST in the whole
wide world:

**
[/quote]

There is an excellent book by a British author John Freaker (I hope I got the name right) The Battle of Pakistan. In the end he has summarized kill ratio PAF v IAF. Very interesting indeed PAF was always outnumbered out gunned by IAF but due to its pilots skill and valour IAF planes were blown out of the sky. (Sorry Indians these facts are from non Indian sources). There is an interesting article in AFM Airforce Monthly June issue. PAF is desprately trying to bridge the gap. The differnce is 3 to one. Aslo they are now trying to aquire BVR Beyond visual range capability.

4

They are, no doubt, a group of very prestigious, well-educated folks. It's not just the good training, but also the valor, the organization with which they operate, the right kinda attitude, the dedication and sense of committment, which sets them apart.

5

Excellent, thanks alot.

Our's not to reason why,
Our's but to do and die:

6

Yep...thats our PAF.

remember israeli jets stationed in india, trying to bomb kahuta, and then running off with their tails tucked between their legs once Pak Air force left the ground in response?

remember M.M. Alam? Had a chance of meeting up with one of his airmen the other day. It was a pleasure.

7

yes guys thats really true men in blue r the ppl proud of their organisation n their hard work which they r doing in coping with the new challenges coming their way
PAF is an organisation which is proud of its past and hoping for a very bright future
we r proud of our paf which is keeping its promise with the father of the nation muhammad ali jinnah
long live PAF

8

PAF Combat Commanders School is one of the top trainin institutes in the world.

US navy officials actually believe it is an improvement on top gun school.

PAK FAZIA ZINDABAD
PAKISTAN BAINDABAD

9

I wish I was in the PAF :-/ Always wanted to be...

whats the minimum age to get in btw? ;-)

10

.

[This message has been edited by who---me (edited July 02, 2001).]

11

Chuck Yeager and the Pakistan Air Force
An Excerpt from Yeager,

the Autobiography of General (Retd.) Chuck E. Yeager (USAF)

When we arrived in Pakistan in 1971, the political situation between the
Pakistanis and Indians was really tense over Bangladesh, or East Pakistan,
as it was known in those days, and Russia was backing India with
tremendous amounts of new airplanes and tanks. The U.S. and China were
backing the Pakistanis. My job was military advisor to the Pakistani air
force, headed by Air Marshal Rahim Khan, who had been trained in Britain
by the Royal Air Force, and was the first Pakistani pilot to exceed the
speed of sound. He took me around to their different fighter groups and I
met their pilots, who knew me and were really pleased that I was there.
They had about five hundred airplanes, more than half of them Sabres and
104 Starfighters, a few B-57 bombers, and about a hundred Chinese MiG-19s.
They were really good, aggressive dogfighters and proficient in gunnery
and air combat tactics. I was damned impressed. Those guys just lived and
breathed flying.
One of my first jobs there was to help them put U.S. Sidewinders on their
Chinese MiGs, which were 1.6 Mach twin-engine airplanes that carried three
thirty-millimeter canons. Our government furnished them with the rails for
Sidewinders. They bought the missiles and all the checkout equipment that
went with them, and it was one helluva interesting experience watching
their electricians wiring up American missiles on a Chinese MiG. I worked
with their squadrons and helped them develop combat tactics. The Chinese
MiG was one hundred percent Chinese-built and was made for only one
hundred hours of flying before it had to be scrapped - a disposable
fighter good for one hundred strikes. In fairness, it was an older
airplane in their inventory, and I guess they were just getting rid of
them. They delivered spare parts, but it was a tough airplane to work on;
the Pakistanis kept it flying for about 130 hours.
War broke out only a couple of months after we had arrived, in late
November 1971, when India attacked East Pakistan. The battle lasted only
three days before East Pakistan fell. India's intention was to annex East
Pakistan and claim it for themselves. But the Pakistanis counter-attacked.
Air Marshal Rahim Khan laid a strike on the four closest Indian air fields
in the western part of India, and wiped out a lot of equipment. At that
point, Indira Gandhi began moving her forces toward West Pakistan.
China moved in a lot of equipment, while Russia backed the Indians all the
way. So, it really became a kind of surrogate war - the Pakistanis, with
U.S. training and equipment, versus the Indians, mostly Russian-trained,
flying Soviet airplanes.
The Pakistanis whipped their [Indians'] asses in the sky.
The air war lasted two weeks and the
Pakistanis scored a three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made
Indian jets and losing thirty-four airplanes of their own. I'm certain
about the figures because I went out several times a day in a chopper and
counted the wrecks below. I counted wrecks on Pakistani soil, documented
them by serial number, identified the components such as engines, rocket
pods, and new equipment on newer planes like the Soviet SU-7
fighter-bomber and the MiG-21 J, their latest supersonic fighter. The
Pakistani army would cart off these items for me, and when the war ended,
it took two big American Air Force cargo lifters to carry all those parts
back to the States for analysis by our intelligence division.
I didn't get involved in the actual combat because that would've been too
touchy, but I did fly around and pick up shot-down Indian pilots and take
them back to prisoner-of-war camps for questioning. I interviewed them
about the equipment they had been flying and the tactics their Soviet
advisers taught them to use. I wore a uniform or flying suit all the time,
and it was amusing when those Indians saw my name tag and asked, "Are you
the Yeager who broke the sound barrier?" They couldn't believe I was in
Pakistan or understand what I was doing there. I told them, "I'm the
American Defense Rep here. That's what I'm doing."
India flew numerous raids against the Pakistani air fields with brand new
SU-7 bombers being escorted in with MiG 21s. On one of those raids, they
clobbered my small Beech Queen Air that had U.S. Army markings and a big
American flag painted on the tail. I had it parked at the Islamabad
airport, and I remember sitting on my front porch on the second day of the
war, thinking that maybe I ought to move that airplane down to the Iranian
border, out of range of the Indian bombers, when the damned air-raid siren
went off, and a couple of Indian jets came streaking in overhead. A moment
later, I saw a column of black smoke rising from the air field. My Beech
Queen was totaled. It was the Indian way of giving Uncle Sam the finger.
I stayed on in Pakistan for almost a year after the war ended, and it was
one of the most enjoyable times of my life. From 1972 until we came home
in March 1973, I spent most of my time flying in an F-86 Sabre with the
Pakistani fighter outfits. I dearly loved the Sabre, almost as much as I
enjoyed the P-51 Mustang from World War II days. It was a terrific
airplane to fly and I took one to see K-2, the great mountain of Pakistan
and the second highest mountain in the world, about an hour's flight away
[from Islamabad] at over 28,000 feet.
It's a fabulous peak, as awesome and beautiful as any on earth, located in
the middle of a high range that runs the length of the Chinese-Pakistani
border. We actually crossed over into China to get there, and I've got
some pictures of me in my cockpit right smack up against the summit. I
made two or three trips up to K-2 - real highlights. I also did some
bighorn sheep hunting in the Himalayan foothills. Susie owned a little
Arabian mare. She took her horse when I went hunting and actually learned
some of the Urdu language of the mountain people.

Copyright © 1985 by Yeager Inc.

12

I read this and think about the life I almost had. I would have gone on to PAF academcy if my eyesight had not kept me from it, was a disappointment coming this close and not being able to continue. Some of my friends and family members made it and I envied them, am happy for them and proud of them. They truly are the best of class.

13

very good indeed. keep it up!

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/biggthumb.gif

14

From what I understand due to the improved training facilities and exchange programs the program is even better than before.

15

Two days ago, I attended a wedding of a friend who is a pilot with the PAF and flies Chinese Migs (bombers). He recently went to Turkey on official exchange/training, and according to him, PAF Pilots are highly regarded by the Airforces all over the world for their professionalism and killer instinct. I have a number of relatives who have served in the PAF and they are (in my opinion) very humble and extremely patriotic. You will find a sticker on the PAF Pilot’s cars which reads “the only profession money can’t buy – PAF Pilot”, and I honestly believe in that. My only criticism of the PAF is that it has not furnished influence to the Pak Army with it’s professionalism. I only wish that our Army was like our Airforce.

16

PAF is the best :k:

17

my profession - thou art my passion...my exilir....my life blood......

.....it a pride to serve among the blues.........n i consider the comments throughout the thread as the most true regard that the nation has for its air warfare n air support crew........it was infact heartening to go around the posts.....

may Almighty Allah Help us stand true to our pledges....Aameen.

Mehrtaab

18

Big up to the PAF :jhanda:

19

Re: PAF - related media quotes (including Chuck Yeager and more)

Makes me PROUD of my country and the men taking care of it. :k: :k: :k:

I would have gone to PAF too but I could not make it because of my arm, I had an accident in which I got my arm broken and went through an operation. Due to that I failed the test :frowning:

20

:jhanda: Great articles!