23 March: From F-104 to JF17 Thunder - And Beyond (J10Cs - Dragons)

23 March is an important national day in the life of Pakistan -   It is the day when on 23 March 1940 the Pakistan Resolution was unanimously put forward in a historic meeting of the All India Muslim League during its annual meeting at Lahore's Manto Park (later renamed as Iqbal Park after Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, who for the first time gave the idea of a separate Muslim state to be carved out of the British India as he could see that Muslims and Hindus could coexist  - something that has now abundantly seen in the present day India where Hindu hardliners are deadly against Muslims and torture them in one way or the other) to demand for a separate homeland for the Muslims of the British India. It is also the day when the first constitution of Pakistan was adopted.

The relevant part of the resolution is as under:

No constitutional plan would be workable or acceptable to the Muslims unless geographical contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary. That the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in majority as in the North-Western and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.

It is also the day in 1956 when Pakistan was declared Islamic Republic of Pakistan from the Dominion of Pakistan and broke away the remnants of the British yoke which it continued even after partition from the British India on 14 August 1947. Initially the day was called the Republic Day but later integrating the two milestone events of same day in 1940 and 1956, it started to be known as Pakistan Day.

To commemorate this memorable day with honour and dignity, a Pakistan Day parade by the armed forces of Pakistan is held.

For me, this day has a tinge of nostalgia as it was this day in 1964 when I witnessed the armed forces parade for the first time at Fortress Stadium Lahore. And the hallmark of the day was the fly past of the supersonic Lockheed F-104 jets, known as the Starfighter - the first supersonic aircraft of Pakistan, which had then been recently acquired from USA through Jordan. In fact at that time, Pakistan was the only country outside NATO which had been supplied with this modern aircraft of its time. The whole crowd of spectators applauded with a thunderous clap when the Starfighters flew past over our heads.

Later it was the same aircraft, which broke the sound barrier around 11 AM on 6 September 1965 - a thunderous noise that announced the breaking out of war between India and Pakistan. I was in school when the sound barrier was broken and it was soon after that our school was closed and we were all sent home.

That was 1964 - but as the 23 March 2018 dawns in Pakistan, the Pakistan Air Force proudly flies its indigenously produced JF-17 Thunder lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft, which has been developed as a joint venture by Pakistan and China, and inducted in Pakistan Air Force in 2010.  So far about 100 of block I and II versions of JF-17 Thunder have entered in active service of the Pakistan Air Force. 

And plans are afoot to work on the block-III with many advancements in avionics, ordnance carrying capability and cruising range. Powered by a Guizhou WS-13 or Klimov RD-93 after burning turbofan, it has a top speed of Mach 1.6 and is equipped with  air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, and a 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel auto-cannon.

And that is not all - in the meantime Pakistan Army and Navy too have undergone substantial changes and news weapons and platforms have been added. Thus today's parade shows up a huge weapon show in the parade ground outside Islamabad with lush green Margalla hills in the back ground.

This portion of the post is added on 23 March 2022:

Pakistan Air Force has come a long way from F-86 Sabers to F-104s and then the second stage of induction of state of the art F-16s in early 1980s. Now in the 2000s, we have Joint Fighter 17s Thunders  and very recently inducted J10Cs from China. We always have had the game changers.

Photo: PAF Fighters is with Azhar Hussain.

We shall write mor about J10C shortly. The present inventory of Pakistan Air Force is formidable and we intend building it on with possible induction of Chinese J20s, the stealth 5th generation aircraft in times to come.

The entire nation stand behind its gallant armed forces which are not only the single largest contributor the UN Peace Keeping Missions across the world, but is also one of the longest embattled army with the terrorists and miscreants mostly coming from Afghanistan, targeting and falling back. The effective check and ruthless elimination of terrorists' havens has afforded much needed peace to Pakistan to concentrate on its developenmtal plans for present and future. Though it is sad to see USA and other world powers still not acknowledging sacrifices of some 70,000 and still press on Pakistan to do more. 

Our Armed Forces would continue to fight back terrorism in any form and one day God willing will be successful in its efforts.

Read my previous post on F-104s: 23 March and the F-104 Starfighters

Photos: PAF

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23rd March - a day in life of Pakistan

23rd March - a day in life of Pakistan!!

A day which have two-fold significance in the history of Pakistan. It was the day in 1940 when a historic gathering of the All India Muslim League, a political party representing all Muslims of the British India took place at the Minto Park, Lahore and the resolution for an independent Muslim homeland for the Muslims of the British India was passed, known as the Lahore Resolution which later came to be known as the Pakistan Resolution. The place where the resolution was passed now stands a beautiful minaret known as the Minar-e-Pakistan, minaret of Pakistan, to remind the future generations of the importance of this historic place.

On this historic day, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan made this historic speech, “Muslims are a nation according to any definition of nation. We wish our people to develop to the fullest spiritual, cultural, economic, social and political life in a way that we think best and in consonance with our own ideals and according to the genius of our people”.

Due to the efforts of the leaders of the All India Muslim League under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, that the British conceded to the legitimate demands of the Muslims and allowed partition of the British India into two independent countries of Pakistan and India on 14th August 1947 - a day when an Empire came to an end that ruled this subcontinent for almost over 100 years and long drawn struggle for independence materialized for the people of Indo-Pak subcontinent.

The day again surfaces in the history of Pakistan in 1956, when Pakistan became the first Islamic republic of the world. 

Thus the day combines two important events in the history of Pakistan and is celebrated with national pride and commitment. 

The day commences with a 21 gun salute as a salute and tribute to all those who worked for the independence of Pakistan and those who died and laid their lives to acquire this country and preserving its integrity. 

After many decades since 1940 and 1956, Pakistan still stands at a very critical juncture of its history. The democracy has finally returned to country after yet another decade long spell of military rule and the democratic government has just completed its five years 'safely.' And all is set for next elections to be held in May later this year. While the country is still in the grip of militancy and religious intolerance, the democracy has not done any good either as the recent stint of the government was marred with corruption and swindling of national resources.

The politicians are once again showing new hopes to their voters - with same slogans and rhetorical statements. In Lahore today, a new political voice of Imran Khan is being heard today and youth is being mobilized to come forward and vote for a change - change form all those faces we have seen and tested many a a times in the past. Would this be a call for ushering in new era for Pakistan - a new hope for the future?

Only time and next elections will tell. But as for now, on this day, let every Pakistani make a resolve to work towards making Pakistan as one of the greatest nations of the world, as pledged by Jinnah and make an all out endeavour to make this country peaceful, progressive, tolerant and accommodating for all people of Pakistan, irrespective of their religion, caste and creed. We must also make a resolve today to rid this country of the faces that have deceived us for long - and from the menace of militancy and extremism, which has plagued this country for the last so many years.

via The Fire Within

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23 March and the F-104 Starfighters

Today is 23 March - a day is celebrated in Pakistan for two reasons: One, it was the day back in 1940 when a historic resolution was passed in the city of Lahore at Minto Park (now called the Iqbal Park) to demand a separate homeland for the Muslims of the British India from the ruling British empire, and secondly it was the day in 1956 when Pakistan was declared as a republic - the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 

For many years since 1956, the day was celebrated with the display of armed Forces parade, to which other segments of national significance were also included much later. Although the 23 March parades were held in all provincial metropolis, the main avenue used to be Rawalpindi, later shifted to Islamabad. However, lately due to the extensive employment of Pakistan Army against the militants, the holding of this annual feature has been discontinued.

While I was sitting this morning, reminiscing the memory of the bygone days, I remembered one 23 March parade that I witnessed as a child many many years ago in 1964. The special event on that day was the display of the F-104 Starfigher aircraft that Pakistan had acquired from the USA. In fact Pakistan was the only country outside NATO, who was given the F-104s supersonic aircraft by the USA, for then Pakistan under President Ayub Khan was a strong ally of the USA. It was another story that like always, as even now, USA abandoned Pakistan, despite being member of the SEATO and CENTO, when India attacked Pakistan in September 1965. Thereafter, there have been many occasions when USA abandoned Pakistan having used it for the fulfillment of its own interests.

F-104 Starfighetr of Pakistan Air Force

Anyway coming back to the day in 1964 and the F-104s. Pakistan was delivered 14 supersonic F-104, known as the Starfighter. I as a child was also interested to see the aircraft as one of my uncles Flight Lieutenant (later air Vice Marshal) Amjad Hussian, was also a F-104 Starfighter pilot of Number 9 PAF squadron. Presently, the Number 9 Squadron operates and flies the F-16 Fighting Falcons. 

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On that sunny day of 23 March 1964, the sleek shinning F-104s roared past over us with its peculiar thundering voice and the entire arena applauded for having seen the Starfigher for the first time in their lives, and that also included me as well. It was the same aircraft, which broke the sound barrier around 11 AM on 6 September 1965 - a thunderous noise that announced the breaking out of war between India and Pakistan. I was in school when the sound barrier was broken and it was soon after that our school was closed and we were all sent home.

A beautiful painting of  the farewell flight of the F-104 Starfighers in 1972, after serving PAF for 11 years [Photo: PAF ]  

The F-104s continued to serve Pakistan Air Force for 11 years and were finally retired from service in 1972 mainly because of the want of spares as back in the OEM, the production of F-104s has been since ceased. The Starfighers flew for the last time in an impressive air show from the Masroor air base in Karachi. Many heavyhearted airmen and officers of No 9 Squadron witnessed the farewell flight, some of them served in the Squadron for two wars. From among the Squadron's veteran pilots, the two took up the Starfighters for the last time.

Those who have seen this majestic aircraft zooming past the skies during the 60s would cherish the memories of this wonderful aircraft the Pakistan Air Force had the honour to fly for more than a decade. Even when I watched the F-16s and the JF-17 Thunder during the 23 March parades on many occasions, these aircraft reminded me of the day when I first saw a supersonic aircraft for the first time in my life - a day the memories of which I still cherish.

It may be added here for the information of my readers that the PAF's F-104s were somewhat unique. While being the lightest among the starfighters in combat configuration, the more powerful J-79-IIA engines gave them additional manoeuvre energy. The 20mm Galling gun, retrofitted to the PAF's F-104s by specific request, also added to the fighter's combat effectiveness. 

The sound of the Starfighters F-104 [YouTube]

Many celebrated PAF pilots like Air Chief marshal Jamal A Khan, Air Vice Marshals Farooq Umar, Amjad Hussain and Abbas Mirza, Air Commodores Rashid Bhatti and Amanullah Khan have had the honour of flying the F-104s. Flight Lieutenants Tariq Majeed and Abasi and Wing Commander M L Middlecoat were lost along with their aircraft. 

Related:

F-104 Starfighters in Pakistan Air Force

The Starfighters Farewell Flight

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