Daily Times

The Speakers at a Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS) seminar titled ‘Pakistan Air Force (PAF): Second to None’ on Friday said superior training has always been a hallmark of PAF to remain ahead of its adversaries and it had to maintain the highest degree of preparedness, high-quality combat training at all costs. The CASS, Lahore organized a commemorative seminar titled “Pakistan Air Force: Second to None” that paid tribute to the enduring legacy of the PAF, rooted in Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of being ‘Second to None’, a news release said.

The 1965 and 1971 wars tested PAF’s mettle, resulting in shining victories and showcasing professionalism. The seminar’s goal was to extract invaluable lessons from these historical chapters, guiding the PAF’s pursuit of becoming a top-notch air force, committed to defending the nation with unwavering excellence. Director Operations and Admin, CASS Lahore, Group Captain Faisal ul Rehman delivered the introductory remarks which was followed by a keynote address by Air Commodore (R) Kaiser Tufail, who highlighted accomplishments of the PAF in 1965 and 1971 wars. Following the keynote address, Air Commodore (R) Khalid Chishti shed light on the remarkable achievements of PAF war heroes. Additionally, two distinguished war veterans, Air Commodore Abdul Basit (Retd) and Air Commodore (R) Farooq Haider, shared their personal accounts from the 1965 and 1971 wars.

An extensive question and answer session followed the statements by the guest speakers. President CASS Lahore, Air Marshal (R) Asim Suleiman in his concluding remarks, said that for an effective, watchful, and hard-hitting air force, it is important to have focused training; state of the art equipment and weapons; and self-sufficient industrial base with indigenously developed technologies. Under the leadership of the current Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, PAF has undergone a strategic reset in terms of combat training along with the acquisition of requisite equipment and infrastructure development, to maintain its legacy of having cutting-edge combat capabilities.

PAF has recently made extensive inductions to stay abreast with modern technologies and state of the art weapon systems. They include induction of PL-15 air-to-air missiles and their integration to the launching platform, J10-C operationalization, offensive air, and ground-launched weapons, an array of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from strategic to tactical usage, a variety of powerful EW equipment, cyber capability in all such domains and launching of PFX Pakistan’s Advanced Flight etc. The inductions made in the last two years are strategic in nature and the vision of the Air Chief is to have a long-lasting impact on the PAF’s operational preparedness and combat readiness. The most important takeaways from the seminar were: In air battles, numerical superiority alone does not determine victory; instead, it is the combination of superior training, unwavering morale, and, above all, an indomitable fighting spirit that emerges as the decisive factor. “PAF must maintain its legacy with tenacity and hard-hitting capabilities, especially in light of India’s vast expenditure on its defense budget.

Indigenization and self-reliance for having leading-edge technologies are essential for the future of a modern air force. Force goals and developmental strategy have to be in line with National Security and its manifestation,” the speakers said.