[🇵🇰-Airforce] PAF Trainer Aircrafts

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MFI-17 MUSHSHAK / SUPER MUSHSHAK

(1974 till date)
MFI-17 Mushshak (English: Proficient) is a licence built basic trainer aircraft version of the SAAB Safari, used by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force. It is manufactured in Kamra, Pakistan, by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). As of 2006, 80 aircraft have been manufactured. Built to MIL-Spec and fully aerobatic, it is used for training, towing and other ground support roles. An upgraded version, the MFI-395 Super Mushshak, has also been produced by PAC.

Used for training undergraduate student pilots the fundamentals of aircraft handling, instrument and night flying, the MFI-17 Mushshak is fitted with blind flying instrumentation. It is propelled by a single Textron Lycoming 4 cylinder engine with one twin-blade propeller. Also used for reconnaissance, observation and transportation purposes, there are attachment points (hard points) under the wings for extra fuel tanks and weapons, allowing the aircraft to perform ground attack sorties if required.

 

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DE HAVILLAND DH-82 TIGER MOTH

(1947-1957)

The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffery De Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until 1957.

Provided to Royal Pakistan Air Force on its formation (14 August 1947).

 

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NORTH AMERICAN T-6G HARVARD
(1947-1970)

The North American T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train fighter pilots of the United States Army Air Force, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War-II. T-6s had provision for up to 3× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns

Provided to Pakistan on formation of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (14 August 1947). These trainers were replaced with MFI-17B Mushshak aircraft by 1980.

 

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HAWKER SEA FURY FT-61
(1950-1956)

Dual-seat Fury T-61 model used for training. (For details see Hawker Sea Fury FB-60: Decommissioned Aircraft - Interceptors and Fighters).

 

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LOCKHEED T-33 / RT-33 SHOOTING STAR

(1955-1993)

The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American built jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The RT-33A version, reconnaissance aircraft was produced primarily for use by foreign countries, had a camera installed in the nose and additional equipment in the rear cockpit. T-33s continued to fly as currency trainers, drone towing, combat and tactical simulation training, "hack" aircraft, electronic countermeasures and warfare training and test platforms right into the 1980s.

15 T-33A, 6 RT-33A were received during 1955-56 by the Pakistan Air Force under the US military assistance programme, equipped No. 2 Fighter Conversion Unit and a tactical reconnaissance flight, the latter becoming No. 20 Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in 1959. No.20 Squadron was number-plated in 1972, its RT-33s and other photographic equipment transferred back to No. 2 Squadron to form a reconnaissance flight.


T-33s were armed with 2 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M3 machine guns and could carry 907 kg bomb or rocket load on two hard points. Hence; T-33 and RT-33 were used for ground attack and photo reconnaissance duties in 1965 and 1971 wars against forward Indian targets.

1 T-33 was lost when East Pakistani instructor pilot attempted to hijack it to India, trainee Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas forced it to crash within Pakistani territory foiling the hijack attempt; embracing shahadat.

T-33 retired from PAF service in 1993 and replaced with Shenyang FT-5s.

 

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LOCKHEED F-104B STAR FIGHTER (TRAINER)

Dual-seat F-104 also used for training.

 

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CESSNA T-37
(1962 till date)

The Cessna T-37 (Tweet) is a small, economical twin engine jet trainer-attack type aircraft which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The A-37 Dragonfly variant served in the light attack role during the Vietnam War and continues to serve in the air forces of several South American nations.

Pakistan Air Force procured a substantial number of T-37 in the early sixties for use as basic jet trainer at the air force academy Risalpur. T-37s are still in service.

 

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K-8 KARAKORUM

(1994 till date)

The Hongdu JL-8 (or Nanchang JL-8), also known as the K-8 Karakorum, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and light attack aircraft built in joint-cooperation between the China (China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation) and Pakistan's (Pakistan Aeronautical Complex).

The first prototype was built in 1989, with the first flight taking place on 21 November 1990.

Pakistan Air Force received fourteen K-8 trainers in 1994, after which it decided to order 75 more to replace its fleet of
Cessna T-37 trainers. The latest development in the K-8 family is the K-8P version, which currently is operated by the Pakistan Air Force. K-8P has an advanced avionics package of integrated head-up displays and multi-function displays (MFD), MFD-integrated GPS and Instrument Landing System (ILS) / Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) systems.

The People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) received its first six K-8 trainers in 1998. Later upgrades to the Chinese model included an indigenously manufactured Chinese engine. The PLAAF is anticipated to continue adding the trainer to its fleet in order to replace older trainers that are now obsolete, such as the JJ-5 (FT-5).

Other nations have shown interest in the trainer and it now also serves in the air forces of Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. While the plane primarily serves as a trainer, it can also be used in the ground attack or even air combat role when appropriately armed.

In 2008 Venezuela announced the purchase of 18 K-8 aircraft. Currently the K-8 is being marketed by China to the air forces of the Philippines and to Indonesia, for replacing Indonesia's BAE Hawk MK.53 jet trainers. In 2009, the Bolivian government approved a deal to purchase 6 K-8P aircrafts for use in anti-drug operation.

 

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SHENYANG FT-5

(1970 till date)

The Shenyang J-5 / F-5 (Jianjiji-5 - Fighter-5) is a Chinese built single-seat jet interceptor and fighter aircraft derived from the Soviet MiG-17. The J-5 was exported as the F-5 with the NATO reporting name "Fresco".

The Chinese developed F-5 into a two-seat trainer version of the MiG-17, designated the Chengdu JJ-5 (Jianjiji Jiaolianji - Fighter Trainer or FT-5), by combining the two-seat cockpit of the
MiG-15UTI, the VK-1A engine of the J-5, and the fuselage of the J-5A. All internal armament was removed and a single Nudelman-Richter NR-23 23 mm cannon was carried in a ventral pack.

Pakistan Air Force acquired FT-5s for use as advanced jet trainers / conversion aircraft.

 

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SHENYANG FT-6
(1965 )

Two seat variant of Shenyang F-6; utilised for training fighter pilots.

 

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DASSAULT AVIATION .. MIRAGE-III / VDP

MIRAGE-IIIDP

Two seat variant of Mirage-III; utilised for training fighter pilots.

 

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CHENGDU FT-7

(1988 till date)

Two seat variant of Chengdu F-7; utilised for training fighter pilots.

 

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JF-17B

 

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F-104 B

 

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PAF Shenyang FT-5 / JJ-5

The MiG-17 was license-built in both China and Poland. In the early 1950s, the PLAAF obtained a number of Soviet-built MiG-17 Fresco-A day fighters, designated "J-4" or, when passed on to other countries, "F-4". The Chinese obtained plans for the MiG-17F Fresco-C day fighter in 1955, along with two completed pattern aircraft, 15 knockdown kits, and parts for ten aircraft.

The first Chinese-built MiG-17F, produced by the Shenyang factory, performed its initial flight on 19 July 1956 with test pilot Wu Keming at the controls. The MiG-17F was known as the "J-5" in Chinese service, or "F-5" when it was exported. One was actually trialed as a torpedo bomber, but not surprisingly the concept never made it into formal service.

The Chinese then went on to produce the MiG-17PF interceptor as the "J-5A (F-5A)". Plans were obtained in 1961, but the country was in turmoil in the early 1960s and the first Chinese-built MiG-17PF, produced at the Chengdu factory, didn't fly until 1964, when the type was basically obsolete. It was given the designation of "J-5A (F-5A)". A total of 767 J-5s and J-5As were built to end of production in 1969.

Somewhat more practically, the Chinese built a two-seat trainer version of the MiG-17, designated the "JJ-5 (FT-5)". It was something of a hybrid, featuring the cockpit system of the MiG-15UTI / JJ-2, the non-afterburning VK-1A engine of the MiG-17 Fresco-A, and the larger airbrakes of the MiG-17F. It also had a protruding upper intake lip resembling that of the MiG-17PF, but the JJ-5 wasn't fitted with radar. All the nose armament was deleted, with the aircraft carrying a single NR-23 cannon in a belly pack. First flight was in 1968, with the type built at the Chengdu factory.

About 1,061 JJ-5s were built to end of production in 1986, with the type exported to a number of countries. Some sources have referred to it as a "MiG-17UTI", but formally speaking there never was an aircraft with that designation.

Users - Albania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, North Korea, China.