| Pathankot Airstrike Urdu: پٹھان کوٹ فضائی حملہ (Urdu) | |
| Partof: | Indo-Pakistani air war of 1965 & Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 |
| Scope: | Strategic airstrike to hinder IAF raiding capabilities |
| Type: | Airstrike |
| Location: | Pathankot Airbase, Pathankot, Punjab, India |
| Planned: | 6th September 1965 |
| Planned By: | Sqn. Ldr. Sajad Haider Wg. Cmdr M. G. Tawab |
| Commanded By: | AM Nur Khan Sqn. Ldr. Sajad Haider |
| Objective: | Destruction of the Pathankot base and Indian Air Force aircraft |
| Time-Begin: | 5:00PM |
| Time-End: | 6:00PM |
| Timezone: | UTC+5 |
| Executed By: | Pakistan Air Force |
| Outcome: | Pakistani operational success |
The Pathankot Airstrike was a major attack on the Pathankot Airbase by the Pakistan Air Force during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. In the course of the attack, the PAF severely damaged the base and destroyed 9-12 IAF aircraft
The Pathankot Airbase is located in the town of Pathankot, about 90 seconds of flying time away from the Pakistani border. The airbase was loosely defended, with "MiG-21's refuelling in plain sight, Mystères landing and Folland Gnat's on the ORP"
The Indians were planning to launch a combat air patrol, and the plan was for the MiG-21's to reach the altitude of 40,000ft and do supersonic runs in and around the Pathankot area[2] . This was supposed to be picked up by Pakistani radar and "put the fear of God into the Pakistani pilots", so they would not attempt to attack the base.
At 12:00 pm, Sqn Ldr. Sajad Haider was given an order[3] [4] for his Squadron No. 19 to attack the Pathankot base with 8 F-86 Sabre's with guns only and 1800 rounds. Sqn Ldr. Haider later wrote in his book :
"The target allocation came as a big surprise for me. Pathankot had not been assigned as a target in June or later. Consequently, we had little information about its lay out, the dispersal areas and aircraft shelter complex or even the runways direction which was an absolute pre-requisite for an airfield attack."- Sqn Ldr. Sajad Haider
Sajad then chose the 7 pilots for the strike, excluding two young pilots who he admitted he had admiration for. One of these pilots, Abbas Khattak, was then assigned Sajad's No. 6 position and the other, Arshad Sami, was given a place as an armed escort in case of an interception by the IAF.[5] The squadron's plan was to fly at 25,000 feet to confuse the enemy radar, then they would descend at a steep gradient before turning towards the target. At this time, the Indians were preparing their CAP (combat air patrol) at around 5:30PM when the PAF formation struck the base. The Pakistani Sabres circled above the airfield and picked off any visible aircraft. Two MiG-21's parked next to each other were destroyed, and Wg. Cmdr. Tawab (escort leader) called Sajad and said that he had counted 14 fires below.[6] The PAF faced little resistance, with only anti-aircraft fire causing minor damage to a single PAF aircraft.
The Pakistanis claimed to have destroyed 7 MiG-21's, 5 Mystère's and 1 or 2 C-119's, for a total of 14 aircraft destroyed[7] and a further 14 damaged. While the Indians claimed the destruction of 2 Folland Gnats, 2 MiG-21's, 4 Mystère's and one C-119. Despite this, the Pathankot Airstrike was deemed a unanimous success[8] and one of the most successful airstrikes of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965