The Advent of Air Power and Pakistan Air Force

Gp Capt SM HALI gives a comprehensive overview of the PAF over the years

-Al Quran (105 : 1-5)

(Translation Allama Yusuf Ali)

Thus says Allah in Surah Al-fil, providing a clear and vivid demonstration of how air power can be used to crush an enemy many times its size as the invading hordes of the Abyssinian potentate Abraha along with their mighty mammoth Mahmud were crushed by tiny birds carrying stones. Sirah writers estimate the event to have occurred in 570 AD which coincides with the year of the birth of our beloved Prophet (May Peace Be Upon Him).

It took the world one thousand three hundred and sixty-nine years to benefit from the Quranic prophecy of the superiority of Air Power and use it in a convincing manner during the Second World War. So much so that Sir Winston Churchill, the greatest statesman of his times, minced no words in acknowledging candidly the role of air power during his address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1949):

'For good or ill, air mastery is today the supreme expression of military power. And fleets and armies, however necessary and important, must accept subordinate rank. This is a memorable milestone in the march of man.'

Since then there has been no looking back. Pentagons of all the Western powers have learned their lessons from this Armageddon very well. How well, was vividly demonstrated in the Kosovo War that was won against a ruthless, relentless and resilient enemy entirely by the Air Power without a single combatant from the Land and Naval forces. It was simply unbelievable and the sceptic analysts continued to shake their expert heads in disbelief till the last moment. But it did happen. Believe it or not.

In our own context Pakistan has been lucky that during its formative years, it was blessed with one of the most dynamic leaders of modern times, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. His foresight was tremendous. During his stay in Europe, he had watched the emergence of air power very closely. From its limited role in First World War to the unprecedented death and destruction unleashed on the hostile forces by the use of this new weapon, the Quaid perceived the over-riding role that air power would play in future conflicts.

It was the Quaid's amazing prescience that convinced him of the inseparable link between survival and air power, which would guarantee the security of Pakistan in the shadow of the neighbouring implacable enemy. It was his love for PAF which, on 13 April, 1948 brought him to the RPAF Flying School at Risalpur despite his poor health. As the Quaid stood before this small band of adoring PAF Officers and Cadets of his fledgling nation's airforce, despite his frail health, the air reverberated with his famous speech which became a source of inspiration for PAF in the trials and tribulations of the years to come. He said: 'A country without a strong Air Force is at the mercy of any aggressor. Pakistan must build up her Air Force as quickly as possible. It must be an efficient Air Force second to none.'

These stirring words have rightly become enshrined in the creed of the Pakistan Air Force. In the formative years, every officer, airman, cadet and civilian of the Air Force worked with untiring effort and never-ending zeal to build PAF. Despite constraints of resources and equipment deficiency, Air Marshals Asghar Khan, Nur Khan, Rahim Khan and PAF's successive leadership did their best to fulfil the Quaid's dream of making the PAF second to none.

Pakistan Air Force, has always been numerically at a disadvantage as compared to its adversary, the Indian Air Force, but in each and every confrontation: be it the skirmishes in Kashmir and Kutch to the 1965 & 71 Indo-Pak Wars, the Afghan War (1979-89) on the recent Kargil Crisis where the entire PAF was mobilized to meet any threat-the Air Force has lived upto the Quaid's expectations. May 1998 saw India going overtly nuclear. This shattered the strategic balance. After weighing its options, Pakistan gained the nuclear equilibrium. The euphoria of the newly acquired nuclear status, however, temporarily clouded the vision of some of our opinion makers for the moment. There appeared to be a misconception that our recently attained nuclear status precluded the need for conventional weapons. Perhaps it was forgotten that all conflicts invariably begin as conventional. Nuclear weapons, though ultimate in their destructive power, have never been employed in any theatre since World War II, even in the long drawn wars of Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan. If this were not true, both USA and erstwhile USSR would have relied totally on their nuclear capability rather than spend billions of dollars and roubles in the development and maintenance of huge arsenals of conventional weapons. Nuclear weapons are not merely decisive but final as they mean the total annihilation of enemy population and cannot be used except as a final madly desperate measure. Thus we continue to live in an era of limited conventional wars, and of utmost restraint in the use of force. This attitude towards conflicts shall consolidate further as the world is beginning to fully grasp the colossal horror of nuclear weapons.

Having achieved a nuclear status quo, it is imperative that conventional arms build-up are not ignored. The psyche of the PAF is that if it goes down fighting it would have taken such a heavy toll on the IAF that it will have sapped its entire moral and physical strength down to the bones and if it can hold its own against the IAF it will have come out equally triumphant. It is expected that as soon as economic conditions of Pakistan improve, PAF will receive its due attention. Till then we have to be wary of India's cat and mouse game with us and take cognizance of its build-up of conventional weapons of tanks, warships, submarines and aircraft. Superior training, high morale and national unity can hold the enemy at bay for only so long. Technology, which has today come to represent the power base of nations, must be given its due weightage.