| Faisal Air Force Base, Karachi | |
| Iata: | FSL |
| Icao: | OPSF |
| Type: | Military |
| Commander: | Air CommodoreShafique Ahmad |
| Occupants: | Pakistan Air Force |
| Operator: | Pakistan Air Force |
| Location: | Karachi |
| Elevation-F: | 29 |
| R1-Number: | N/A |
| R1-Length-F: | N/A |
| R1-Length-M: | N/A |
| R1-Surface: | N/A |
| Pushpin Map: | Karachi |
Pakistan Air Force Base, Faisal (Urdu:), founded as RAF Drigh Road, previously known as PAF Station Drigh Road, and is now called Shahrah-e-Faisal.[1] This air force base is located at Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. In 1975, it was named after the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.[2]
It is the site of PAF's Southern Air Command HQ and PAF Air War College.
During the British Raj, PAF Base Faisal was established in 1933 and was known as RAF Drigh Road. It was the first air force station in the Undivided India and was the birthplace of the colonial-era Royal Indian Air Force, the PAF's parent force. The Royal Air Force mutiny of 1946 was a mutiny on dozens of Royal Air Force stations in the British India in January 1946. The mutiny began at RAF Drigh Road, now known as PAF Base Faisal, and later spread to involve nearly 50,000 men over 60 RAF stations in British India and RAF bases as far as Singapore.[1]
PAF Base Masroor is the other Pakistan Air Force base in Karachi. The new PAF Base Bholari near Karachi was inaugurated in January 2018.[3] [4]
It is currently the home of the PAF Air War College, preparing Pakistan Air Force junior officers who have already been marked for promotion for command and staff duties at the operational level. One of the facilities at PAF Base Faisal, the 102 Air Engineering depot, is responsible for the overhaul of turbojet engines for the PAF's fleet of Chengdu F-7. The F-7 is a type of Chinese interceptor aircraft. On 4 July 2003 a ceremony was held to celebrate the roll-out of the 10,000th turbojet engine to be overhauled at the facility.[5]
The engine overhaul workshop was also upgraded to overhaul the newer WP-13F turbojet engines of the PAF's latest F-7 model, the F-7PG.[6]