PAF ABROAD COLLECTION

In 1976, the Ford Administration eased the U.S. arms sales restrictions on Pakistan and India and made an offer of 110 A-7 Corsair IIs for the PAF. The A-7 package was very attractively priced and the long range fighter-bomber was being offered with its entire range of PGMs, ASMs, EW suites and full day and night/all-weather capabilities. In March, a flying and engineering Evaluation Team of the PAF arrived at Vaught Corporation's facility at Dallas/Fort Worth airport and spent several days in testing the capabilities of the A-7. The painting shows Air Commodore Wiqar Azim taking off in his Corsair (complete with PAF markings!) with a typical bombs and Sidewinders load on the way to the firing range, while a Vaught test pilot waits of the runway to take of behind him in one of several evaluation flights. The PAF team returned very impressed with the results they achieved, as well as the A-7's outstanding combat record in the Vietnam war. Since the evaluation flights had gone off extremely well, a State Department evaluator was heard to claim that the A-7 offer was one that the Pakistanis just could not refuse. In August, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger arrived in Pakistan and held several intensely diplomatic meetings with Prime Minister Bhutto, including one in which the air chief – ACM Zulfiqar Ali Khan – was also specially invited. The U.S. government promised not only the 110 A-7s with the full range of its munitions but also extensive economic and development aid to the country, on the condition that Pakistan abandon its plans for developing a nuclear deterrent. The Pakistani side did not take long to decide. An American ambassador-historian later wrote in his book that none of Pakistan's top leaders "were willing to place their country's security against India in American hands, especially after India had acquired a nuclear capability."

“The Hashemite Diamond” was the national air display team of Jordan between 1964 - 65. It was the largest formation aerobatic team in the Middle East at the time and became well-known in the region for its impressive performances. The team was formed, trained and led by Flight Lieutenant Hameed Anwar of the PAF. The painting shows the Diamond over the historic Jerash ruins north of Amman.

The nation prepares to pay homage to 27 Pakistan Army soldiers who laid down their lives in the service of their nation, fighting bravely in a foreign land some three thousand miles away, for the cause of peace and stability. They were part of the United Nations troops in Somalia (UNOSOM) intervening to keep the peace between locally warring groups in a chaotic civil war. Powerful warlords opposed to the presence of the U.N. peacekeepers continued to pose the most serious threat to peace in mid-1993. On the tragic day of 5 June 1993, the Pakistani soldiers were trying to control a hostile mob demonstration in Mogadishu city when they suddenly found themselves facing deadly sniper fire from several vantage points. The situation triggered a bloody combat that followed, in which several attackers were killed but 27 Pakistani soldiers also became martyrs. The PAF assigned the sombre task of bringing home the Shaheeds’ remains to the Boeing 707 cargo planes of No. 12 Squadron. The painting shows most of the coffins having been offloaded from the PAF transports and laid out temporarily on the airbase tarmac. A short time later, these were moved to a nearby venue for the Funeral Prayers. The President, the Prime Minister, the Services Chiefs and many other condolers attended the ceremony. The earthly remains of the heroes were subsequently transported and buried in their hometowns under the care of the Pakistan Army. PAF pilots assigned for this emergency evacuation flight were Wing Commander S. Jamal-ud-din (OC 12 Sqn and Captain) and Wing Commander Rizwan Yousaf (Co-pilot).

The Jordanian T-37 aerobatic team was formed to welcome H M King Hussein at a graduation parade held at the RJAF’s Mafraq Air Base. The two words of blessings for the King were painted on two of the four T-37s for the occasion. The aerobatic team was trained in just twenty days by its Pakistani leader, Squadron Leader Shahid Nisar, who was on exchange posting in Jordan. The other pilots were – Squadron Leader A Hameed Qadri (PAF), RJAF Captain Muhammad - Al - Omari and a United States Air Force Captain Michael.

From its earliest years, the PAF has chosen to employ only the best-qualified teams for judging the suitability of any new aircraft, equipment or weapon system before deciding on its induction. In 2006, while responding to an invitation by the Italian Air Force to assess various aspects of the multi-nation Eurofighter (Typhoon), the PAF tasked the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) to lead a team of two other pilots and an engineer to carry out a preliminary flying and technical assessment to judge the extent to which the Eurofighter could meet the operational requirements of the PAF. Air Commodore Sohail Aman, assisted by two squadron commanders from the F-16 and Mirage units and an F-16 engineering officer, carried out the flying and maintenance evaluation from Grosseto, one of Italy’s coastal air force bases northwest of Rome, which operated its Typhoon wing. The painting shows Air Commodore Sohail in a high performance turn during one of the evaluation sorties. Nine years later, he would again fly a Typhoon, this time as the Air Chief, while on an official visit to the British RAF. A former CO of the Combat Commanders School, the exceptional fighter pilot would eventually rise to the highest rank in 2015. While at the helm, Air Chief Marshal would also fly operational F-16 missions in Operation Zarb-e-Azb in Waziristan.

In response to calls for assistance from several Arab countries, small contingents of PAF pilots, air defence weapon controllers, engineers and technicians operated as advisers and trainers with several friendly countries when the 1973 Arab - Israel war broke out. The mission for this pair of the Libyan Air Force F-5s was to escort a convoy of Algeria’s Navy on its way to join the Egyptian Navy already engaging the navy of Israel in war operations. Hussaini’s painting shows Flight Lieutenant Ayaz Tiwana as he sets up his escort pattern over the Algerian flotilla sailing east along the Mediterranean coast. Under the pilots’ wings on the Libyan coast are ancient reminders of the bygone centuries: the surviving ruins of the Roman port city of Leptis Magna. The PAF leader of the pair had earlier taken off with his Libyan wingman from the Okba bin Nafa air base and the F-5s belonged to the Sarbul-Nasser Squadron. The sortie was completed without any threat emerging against the escorted vessels.

In the rough summer seas of Karachi an H-43B Huskie helicopter from PAF Base Masroor carries out a memorable rescue at sea. The Huskie scrambled on an SOS call from Merchant Vessel “Latakia”, an Egyptian ship foundering in the Arabian Sea. All on board the “Latakia” were winched up safely before it sank. Egyptian and Pakistani newspapers gave wide coverage to this challenging rescue mission.

The painting shows another interesting mission by Flight Lieutenant Hameed Anwar (a former PAF pilot) while he was serving as an instructor in the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF). When an under-training Hunter pilot ran out of fuel and made a wheels down forced landing in a patch of desert close to the Saudi Arabian border, Anwar visited the site and located a dry lake bed not far from the bogged but undamaged Hunter. Having driven a jeep several times on the chosen length of the lake bed, Anwar was confident the surface was firm enough to get a lightened Hunter airborne. Back at the base, he made the needed preparations. On the day of rescue, the Hunter was carefully towed to the lake bed and Anwar had the Hunter’s nosewheel oleo extended, tyre pressures reduced and only the rear fuselage tanks refuelled, with just enough fuel additionally filled in the main tank for the return flight. Anwar had earlier air tested this configuration with another Hunter on the home base runway and he was sure that barring any nasty surprises on the lake bed take of roll, he could bring back the plane. In the remote Arabian desert, the event turned out to be quite an awesome spectacle. Local tribesmen who had never been near a jet came to watch the take off, in their desert vehicles and the inevitable drove of camels. The RJAF Chief, Colonel Saleh-al-Kurdi, driving up in his Land Rover also stood watching from Anwar’s likely unstick point (also his likely ground ejection point, in the event of things going horribly wrong) – for special reasons: the Hunter operated under his command responsibility and the earlier forced landing was done by his young RJAF pilot. Surprise there was. The Rolls Royce Avon’s 10,000 + lbs thrust rapidly wound up the ASI to 80 knots but then the needle seemed to stop as Anwar felt a marked lack of acceleration. Aware of the softer stretch of sand mid-way in the take-off run, Anwar thought quickly and began a series of pulls and pushes on the stick over the nest critical seconds to keep the Hunter out of the full grip of the softer sand. On his last pull, just as the lake’s level surface ended, the Hunter staggered off in a huge cloud of dust. Flight Lieutenant Hameed Anwar had earlier warned Colonel Saleh-al-Kurdi of his possible ejection but the Air Chief had taken an optimistic view. He drove back happily after seeing a valuable plane flying back to the RJAF air base.

In 1969, South Yemen, which was under a Communist regime strongly allied to the USSR, attacked and captured Mount Vadiya inside the province of Sharoora in Saudi Arabia. While the Saudi army retaliated on ground, the air support was provided by King Khalid Air Base at Khamis Mushayt (the closest air base from the battlefield). Lightnings and the F-86s were generally used for army co-operation missions. The painting shows two of the Khamis-based Lightnings in a rocket attack over the enemy supply lines. Many PAF officers and men from different branches (including pilots) who were serving in Khamis at that time took active part in this battle, in which the enemy was ultimately driven back. Amongst the PAF officers based at Khamis were also Flight Lieutenant Dilawar Hussain and Flying Officer Shahid Zulfiquar who were to rise to the rank of Air Marshal.

It is morning of the coast of Newfoundland (Canada) and the two KC-135 air refuellers are busy topping up the first Pakistan-purchased F-16s on their way to Sargodha (Now Mushaf ) AFB. This is their second hook-up and before arriving at their home base half way around the globe, these F-16As and Bs would air-refuel thrice more to reach Dhahran in Saudi Arabia, from where tanker support for the remaining journey would not be necessary. Historically, this was the first time that a front-line combat aircraft belonging to Pakistan was being air-delivered directly from United States. It was also the first time that the already converted Pakistani F-16 pilots were ferrying their planes over intercontinental distances while participating in large-formation AAR operations - courtesy of the USAF. The five AARs were executed over the Continental United States, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and while overflying Egypt. The total ferry distance was approximately 9000 miles. Earlier, the F-16s had taken of from MacDill AFB (Florida) and two hours later replenished to full fuel load abeam New York City. Now refuelling 280 nautical miles of St. John’s (Newfoundland), they would soon turn southeast for the mid-Atlantic Lajes airfield in the Azores archipelago. From Lajes, the F-16s would fly their second air-refuelled segment directly to Dhahran air base in Saudi Arabia. The USAF pilots would thereafter bid goodbyes to their Pakistani friends and Wing Commander Shahid Javed - Commanding Officer of the first F-16 squadron (No. 11) - would lead the detachment on its final leg, from Dhahran to Sargodha on 15 January 1983.

The painting shows a jet Provost trainer of the British Royal Air Force – piloted by Pakistani Flight Cadet Saeed Ahmad – as it passes over the RAF College, Cranwell, from where Saeed would soon get his wings. On graduation day, he became the first Asian cadet pilot to win the coveted ‘Battle of Britain Aerobatics Trophy’ at the world’s oldest flying institution. By a rare coincidence, he received the trophy from another Pakistani, Air Marshal A Rahim Khan, C-in-C, PAF who had been requested to review the graduation parade. The Air Marshal was in England at the time on a goodwill visit, touring various RAF establishments.

While on an exchange posting as a flying instructor at the RAF College in England, Flight Lieutenant Bahar-ul-Haque’s piloting skills attracted the institution to invite him to become a member of “The Cranwell Poachers” - the formation aerobatic team of the RAFC. Flying the slot position (No.4) in the Team’s BAC Jet Provosts, Bahar participated in many public displays by the “Poachers” that were put up on special days and occasions. One especially memorable occasion during Bahar’s stay on Cranwell’s staf occurred when the RAF celebrated its Golden Anniversary. To mark that occasion, a group of handpicked pilots - Bahar among them - flew a complex formation making the figure “50” in the sky with 20 Provosts, this demonstration being repeated during the Farnborough Air Show of September 1968. Upon his return to the PAF, Bahar set up the PAF Academy’s formation aerobatic team, which later adopted the title of “The Sherdils”. After holding many important command and staff assignments with distinction and a fulfilling and distinguished career in the Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Bahar-ul-Haque retired in March 1993.