[🇵🇰-Airforce] PAF , F-86

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F-86 F&E Sabres in Pakistan Air Force

Gp. Capt. SULTAN M HALI

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) received a total of 102 F-86Fs from the USA, following the conclusion of a mutual defence assistance pact in 1954.

After the Pakistan-India war of 1965 and the resulting embargo on US Military aid, PAF purchased 90 ex-Luftwaffe Orenda-engined Sabre Mk-6s known in PAF as F-86Es. The Sabres were phased out after exhausting their airframe life in 1980. During its twenty four years stay with Pakistan Air Force, the Sabres and their pilots saw meritorious service.

PAF pilots flew a total of 320,185 hours in the PAF out of which about 4,500 hours were flown during the war. Fifty PAF pilots were decorated with gallantry awards for their kills during the 1965 and 1971 Pakistan-India Wars.

Some prominent landmarks are listed in the chart that follows.

IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS BY SABRES OF PAF
S.NO	DATE	EVENT	REMARKS
1	13 June 1956	F-86F Sabres enter PAF inventory.
2	25 Feb 1957	7 Sabre Aerobatics Team The Falcons formed.
3	23 Mar 1957	64 Sabres participate in the fly past on Pakistan Day Parade.
4	02 Feb 1958	PAF stages first-in-the world 16 aircraft formation loop in an air display in honour of King Zahir Shahof Afghanistan.	Details provided
5	10 Apr 1959	Flight Lieutenant M Yunis shoots down an Indian Air Force (IAF) Canberra, which intruded into Pakistani territory on Eid Day.	Canberra crewSquadron Leader Sen Gupta and Flight LieutenantS M Rampal made POWs. Details provided.
6	01 Sep 1965	Squadron Leader Sarfraz Rafiqui and Flight Lieutenant Imtiaz Bhatti shoot down 4 IAF Vampires.	Details provided.
7	06 Sep 1965	No 19 Squadron carries out devastating strike at IAF Base, Pathankot.	Details provided.
8	06 Sep 1965	No 5 Squadron attacks IAF at Halwara.	Details provided.
9	06 Sep 1965	Squadron Leader M M Alam shoots down Indian Hunter during a raid on IAF Base,Adampur.	IAF pilot Flight Lieutenant Rawllay of No 7 Squadron was killed in action
10	07 Sep 1965	No 14 Squadron strikes IAF Base Kalaikunda.	Details provided.
11	07 Sep 1965	Squadron Leader M M Alam becomes an Ace during epic battle over PAF Sargodha.	Details provided.
12	07 Sep 1965	Flight Lieutenant Anwar-ul-Haq Malik shoots down an IAF Mystere over Sargodha.	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant B Guhe of No 1 Squadron killed in action.
13	13 Sep 1965	Flight Lieutenant Yusuf Ali Khan shoots down IAF Gnat over Amritsar (India).	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant A N Kale of No 2 Squadron ejected safely.
14	16 Sep 1965	Squadron Leader M M Alam down IAF Hunter over Amritsar (India).	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant F D Bunsha of No 7 Squadron killed in action.
15	19 Sep 1965	Flight Lieutenant Saiful Azam shoots down an Indian Gnat over Sialkot.	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant Maya Dev of No 9 Squadron was made POW.
16	20 Sep 1965	Squadron Leader Sharbat Ali shoots down an IAF Hunter over Lahore.	Indian pilot Changezi Squadron Leader S K Sharma of No 7 Squadron ejected over own territory.
17	20 Sep 1965	Flight Lieutenant S N A Jilani shoots down an IAF Hunter over Lahore.	Indian pilot Squadron Leader D P Chatterjee of No 7 Squadron killed in action.
18	1966	F-86Es enter PAF inventory.
19	09 Mar 1967	Grand Fire Power demonstration held at Jamrudrange in honour of Shah of Iran.	F-86Fs & F-86Es participate actively.
20	23 Nov 1970	F-86Es modified to carry bombs
21	04 Dec 1971	Flight Lieutenant Mujahid Salik shoots down IAF Hunter over Duman.	Indian pilot Flying Officer Sudhir Tyagi of No 27 Squadron killed in action.
22	04 Dec 1971	Flight Lieutenant Salim Baig shoots down IAF Hunter over Peshawar.	Indian pilot, Flying P Muralidharan of No 20 Squadron killed in action.
23	04 Dec 1971	Squadron Leader Javed Afzal shoots down an IAF MiG-21 and one Hunter. His No 2 Flight Lieutenant Saeed Afzal shoots down a Hunter over Dhaka (then East Pakistan).	In the ensuing battle, Flight Lieutenant Saeed Afzal was shot down and is martyred in action.
24	04 Dec 1971	Flight Lieutenant Schms shoots down an IAF over Dhaka.	Details of the Air-ul-Haq Battle over Dhaka Hunter by the lone No 14 Squadron comprising Sabres against 10 IAF Squadrons is given in detail.
25	04 Dec 1971	Flight Lieutenant Shams-ul-Haq shoots down an IAF SU-7 and two Hunters while his No 2 Flying Officer Shamshad shoot down one Hunter over Dhaka.
26	04 Dec 1971	Squadron Leader Dilawar Hussain, shoots down an IAF over Narayanganj (then East Pakistan).	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Hunter Lemontree ejected safely and made POW.
27	10 Dec 1971	Wing Commander Moin Rabb shoots down an IAF SU-7 while his No.2 Flight Lieutenant Taloot Mirza also shoots down an SU-7 over Jaurian, battlefront.	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant S.K. Chibber was killed in action.
28	10 Dec 1971	Squadron Leader Aslam Choudhry shoots down an IAF Hunter over Chamb battlefront.	Indian pilot MK Jain was killed in action.
29	11 Dec 1971	Wing Commander Ali Imam Bukhari and his No 2 Squadron Leader Cecil each shoot down an SU-7 over the battlefront at Shakargarh.	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant K K Mohan of NoChoudhry 26 Squadron was killed in action.
30	14 Dec 1971	Squadron Salim Gohar shoots down an IAF Krishak over Shakargarh battlefront.	Indian pilot Captain P K Gaur killed in action.
31	14 Dec 1971	Flight Lieutenant Salim Baig shoots down an IAF Gnat	Details provided.
32	17 Dec 1971	Flight Lieutenant Maqsood Amir shoots down an IAF MiG-21FL over Pasrur (Pakistan).	Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant Tejwant Singh of No 29 Squadron made POW.

 

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Sqn Ldr Shabbir Hussain Syed in the F-86F cockpit. He commanded the No. 14 Sqn based at Dacca during the 1965 war and retired as an Air Marshal.

The great war veteran past away on 29 April 2002 and was laid to rest in his native village near Basal.

 

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History of PAF Sabre starts after the Korean war, when USAF realized Mig-15 was much better fighter and Sabre
needed much work on it,specially rate of climb. F-86Fm the day fighter variant which pakistan acquired embodied a
much improved airframe. Combat experience also revealed a need for enhanced manoeuvrability, resulting in the
development of the so called '6-3' wing with leading edge slats removed. With this modification installed, the Sabre
was able to out-turn a Mig-15 and its high altitude/high Mach number manoeuvrability was considerably
enhanced.

The F-86 was powered by the J47-GE-27 engine rated at 5,910lb thrust, a 13 per cent improvement on A and E
models. This resulted in greater speeds but a significantly improved rate of climb - in the order of 25 per cent at sea
level - although this was still slightly inferior to the Mig-15.

The final varint of F series, was the F-86F-F40. It had a curious mix of wing features. In order to restore the
previous low speed docility and reduce the stalling speed, the leading edge slats were reinstated and each wing tip
extended by 12 inches, resulting in a an overall wing span of 39ft 1.4 in and wing area increased to 313.4sq ft. The
result was a stalling speed some 17 knots below that of the F-86F with '6-3' wing.

 

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Specifications

Powerplant One 5,910lb thrust General Lelectric J-47-GE-27 axial flow torbojet; internal fuel capacity 437 USgal (1,654 l) and/or two 120 USgal underwing drop tanks.

Dimensions Wing span 37 ft 1.4 in; length 37 ft 6.6 in; wing area 303sq ft.

Weights Empty 10,950lb; normal loaded 16,860lb; maximum 20,357lb.

Armament Six 0.50in Browning M-3 machine gun in nose with 267 rounds per gun; four underwing hardpoints for drop tanks or two 1,000lb on inboard points; alternatively 15 5in HVAR rockets.

Performance maximum speed 604kt (1,118km/h) at sea level, 530kt at 35,000ft; cruising speed 423-452kt, initial climb rate of 9300ft/min; service ceiling 48,000ft; combat radius (2 1,000lb bombs) 275 nm, combat radius with internal fuel 683nm. ferry range with 2 external tanks, 1,327nm

 

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A gift from late Michael Fox, a renowned aviation author and artist. Michael was working on a book about Sabre display teams of the world. Unfortunately, he passed away before it could be published.

 

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PAF and the induction of the F-86E - a brief
1966
The clandestine procurement of 90 surplus ex-Luftwaffe Canadair Sabre from West Germany by Pakistan could have made for a gripping thriller movie. It involved Germans, including ex-Nazi’s Iranian & Pakistan Air Force officers and the usual suspect, the US government.

Air Marshal Nur Khan has a word with F.S Hussain while strapped into a Canadair Sabre Mk 6. Note that aircraft is still sporting a Luftwaffe colour scheme and serials.

Even though Pakistan was under the American arms embargo, it was able to procure the 90 surplus Canadair Sabre Mk.2s from West Germany via Merex AG, an arms trading firm, opened and run by a decorated ex-Nazi Gerhard Mertins.

The deal is believed to have been done with the blessing of German government and intelligence services but keeping in mind the sensitives around the imposed arms embargo and selling to an active conflict zone country, was to be done via a third nation. American intelligence was also believed to be in the know but turned a blind eye. Even though the deal was struck with the Iranian government, it was known right from the start that the aircraft were intended for Pakistan.

The deal was worth USD 10 million and even though the deal was to be with the Iranian government, Gerhard Mertins is believed to have negotiated directly with the Pakistan embassy in Bonn during 1966. To keep up appearances in subsequent negotiations, PAF officers, participated wearning Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) uniforms and ID badges. Some of the PAF officers would go on to keep their IIAF badges as mementos.

The first 10 aircraft were ferried to Vahdati Air Force Base located in South Iran by Luftwaffe pilots in April 1966, hopping across various European bases to refuel. The aircraft flew into Vahdati in 4-ship formations once a week or every few days. The Luftwaffe pilots would park the aircraft, switch off and then would be flown to Tehran for their subsequent return flight.

At Vahdati Air Base, the aircraft were test flown by a group of PAF pilots led by Squadron Leader Ali Kazim. Over the following months, the rest of the aircraft were also ferried, with the last 20 aircraft delivered in December 1966.

The ferrying of the first two F-86Es from Iran to Pakistan was done by Wing Commander F.S. Hussain and Waqar Azim.

The boss told me . that he will fly Vahdati–Mauripur direct! Looking at the expression on my face he said ‘Ali don’t fret, I have worked out everything. Just have them parked just short of the runway, top up to last drop, have two APUs to start up both at the same time and off we will go.’... Was done that way. I took a deep sigh of relief the moment I got the message that they had landed at Mauripur. All 90 went to Pakistan in Luftwaffe colours. The other 88 went Vahdati–Shiraz–Mauripur.’

The acquisition of these Sabres was a shot in the arm for PAF. These aircraft equipped four squadrons, No. 17, 18 and 19 Squadrons in West Pakistan and No. 14 Squadron, which was still deployed in East Pakistan.

 

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A lesser known fact about the battle is the fate of Sarfaraz Rafiqui, his F-86F-35NA Sabre (Serial#52-5248) crashed some kilometres away from Halwara. Initially PAF declared him MIA but later according to IAF records, his body was found amongst the wreckage rather unharmed.

He was buried at an unmarked grave according to Islamic traits by the Indians. However, according to some sources I've read, it's possible his body was later relocated to his native town of Rajshahi in Bangladesh/East Pakistan.

 

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Sharbat Ali Changezi prepares for a sortie in F-86F - circa 1962. Sharbat Ali Changezi went on to bag a IAF Hunter flown by Sqn Ldr Deba P. Chatterjee over Lahore on 20 Sep 65’ and retired as an Air Marshal.

 

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PAF technicians and armament fitters pose in front of a F-86F Sabre at Sargodha - circa 1964-1965.

 

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L-to-R: Flt Lt Mazhar Abbas, Flt Lt Fazal Elahi. Mazhar participated in the first strike on Pathankot airbase during ‘65 war & went on to retire as an Air Cdre. Elahi was KIA during 71’ war when his Sabre was hit by AAA during a CAS mission.

 

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Fly Past, Late 1950's...

 

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Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk.6 (Ex-Luftwaffe).
These Sabres came as a replacement to the wartime losses courtesy the Shah of Iran who was a great friend of Pakistan.

 

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Sidewinder armed F-86F Sabre on ADA

Courtesy: Hasan Riaz Collection