yasin_khan
New Member
There was some doubt in the minds of the PAF planning staff as to whether Pathankot would still be occupied by the IAF. But the force of 8 Sabres, escorted by 2 more F-86s carrying Sidewinders as top cover at 15,000 ft was fortunate. When the PAF pilots pulled up over Pathankot precisely on time at 1700 hours after a diversionary high-low approach, descending to tree-top height about 20 miles short of the border to avoid the Indian radar, they were delighted to see a large number of IAF aircraft parked around in protected dispersal pens. On the way in, with gun switches selected form 'safe' to 'fire' when crossing the frontier, the 8 Sabres in two sections of four had passed below a couple of IAF Gnats flying at about 5,000 ft without being detected.
At the 1530 hours briefing for the Pathankot strike, for which no airfield photographs were unfortunately available, the plan was for each pilot to make two attacks with his six 0.5 in Browning guns, and 1,800 rounds of API (armour-piercing and incendiary) ammunition per aircraft as the sole armament. With no enemy fighters in the vicinity, however, and 'fairly thin' ground fire, 'Nosey' set the ball rolling with four carefully positioned dives from about 1,500 ft, systematically selecting individual aircraft in protected pens on the airfield for his gun attacks. He was gratified to recognise the distinctive delta-winged Mig-21s, -India's latest fighteramong the aircraft on the ground, and singled them out for special attention. As the rest of his pilots followed suit, Wing Commander Tawab flying one of the 2 top cover Sabres counted 14 fires burning on the airfield, and observed quite a bit of light flak.
Only one PAF aircraft was hit during this strike, with minor damage in the lower fuselage and wing. After their attacks, the Sabres hugged the ground for five minutes or so for their exit from the target, pulling up when clear to stretch their fuel for the return flight. Even though they had retained their drop tanks throughout the attack to get as much fuel from them as Possible most landed with less than 300 lbs left on board at the nearest airfield, which was Sargodha. This was enough for only two or three minutes of flight, and one of the Peshawar Sabres ran completely out of fuel just as it turned off the runway after landing. This sort of margin was clearly unacceptable, but on many occasions throughout the war, some Sabre pilots counted themselves fortunate if they were able to land with more than about 3-400 lbs of fuel on board. Certainly after about 80% of their wartime missions, the Sabres of 19 Squadron landed back with 300 lbs of fuel or less. Operating with this sort of margin was made possible only because of the excellent recovery procedures and instructions from the Sakesar SOC.
After debriefing and interrogation, the Pathankot strike element were credited with 7 Mig-21 s, 5 Mysteres and 1 Fairchild C-1 19 destroyed on the ground, plus damage to the air traffic control building. Later assessments by the PAF Director of Plans and Operations were inclined to consider the number of Migs credited as slightly optimistic, while the Indians claimed they were not Mig-21s at all, but Mysteres. Officially, Indians accepted losing ten aircrafts during this strike including one Mig-21. The IAF official history states that only nine Mig-21s were in service at this time, and India was prepared to show 8 at the end of the campaign. But whatever the precise type of destruction caused at Pathankot, it was an undisputed succsss in being inflicted without loss. Unfortunately it was the only one of the three strikes to prove successful.
At the 1530 hours briefing for the Pathankot strike, for which no airfield photographs were unfortunately available, the plan was for each pilot to make two attacks with his six 0.5 in Browning guns, and 1,800 rounds of API (armour-piercing and incendiary) ammunition per aircraft as the sole armament. With no enemy fighters in the vicinity, however, and 'fairly thin' ground fire, 'Nosey' set the ball rolling with four carefully positioned dives from about 1,500 ft, systematically selecting individual aircraft in protected pens on the airfield for his gun attacks. He was gratified to recognise the distinctive delta-winged Mig-21s, -India's latest fighteramong the aircraft on the ground, and singled them out for special attention. As the rest of his pilots followed suit, Wing Commander Tawab flying one of the 2 top cover Sabres counted 14 fires burning on the airfield, and observed quite a bit of light flak.
Only one PAF aircraft was hit during this strike, with minor damage in the lower fuselage and wing. After their attacks, the Sabres hugged the ground for five minutes or so for their exit from the target, pulling up when clear to stretch their fuel for the return flight. Even though they had retained their drop tanks throughout the attack to get as much fuel from them as Possible most landed with less than 300 lbs left on board at the nearest airfield, which was Sargodha. This was enough for only two or three minutes of flight, and one of the Peshawar Sabres ran completely out of fuel just as it turned off the runway after landing. This sort of margin was clearly unacceptable, but on many occasions throughout the war, some Sabre pilots counted themselves fortunate if they were able to land with more than about 3-400 lbs of fuel on board. Certainly after about 80% of their wartime missions, the Sabres of 19 Squadron landed back with 300 lbs of fuel or less. Operating with this sort of margin was made possible only because of the excellent recovery procedures and instructions from the Sakesar SOC.
After debriefing and interrogation, the Pathankot strike element were credited with 7 Mig-21 s, 5 Mysteres and 1 Fairchild C-1 19 destroyed on the ground, plus damage to the air traffic control building. Later assessments by the PAF Director of Plans and Operations were inclined to consider the number of Migs credited as slightly optimistic, while the Indians claimed they were not Mig-21s at all, but Mysteres. Officially, Indians accepted losing ten aircrafts during this strike including one Mig-21. The IAF official history states that only nine Mig-21s were in service at this time, and India was prepared to show 8 at the end of the campaign. But whatever the precise type of destruction caused at Pathankot, it was an undisputed succsss in being inflicted without loss. Unfortunately it was the only one of the three strikes to prove successful.