so we only had starfighter and saber against four different IAF aircrafts Gnat,MiG 21, mysere and Hawker
MiG 21s out-matched Sabres
Only 09 x Mig-21s were available at the start of the war and they didn't see much action. You may like to read
Cold War Jet Combat: Air to Air Jet Fighter Operations 1950 - 1972 by
Martin Bowman. It is a neutral and realistic assessment of the war. Chapter 3 of the work provides a very well balanced view. (
@war&peace if you can, read this guy's work for your thread)
@GURU DUTT As for Akhnoor, if you look at the Ceasefire Agreement as ratified by the Karachi Agreement of 1949 (between India & Pakistan), the ceasefire line extends from MANAWAR to the 'glaciers'.The boundary south of Manawar, namely Jammu-Kathua-Sambha-Katra is not in ceasefire ambit hence recognised as International Boundary by Pakistan by act of ommission, something they are trying to reverse by claiming it as "working boundary" which has found no mention in any bilateral/international agreement till date. Hence, the southern flank of Pakistan's attack, was across International Boundary. That was the rationale for Indian attack across IB in addition to the obvious of relieving the pressure as mounted by the excellent execution of offensive operations by PA in the sector. Collate with the agreement pdf link have posted a number of times, its on net and also with a map. Half framed sentences don't convey anything.
There is no doubt that PAF fought a superior force in terms of number, as also equally matched in terms of quality of platforms and later in terms of numbers, as vampires were found incapable in the famous air war over Chamb, where the gallant Vampires, leisurely shot up our own defending 20 Lancers who were preparing to defend against the attacking Pakistani force, and the excellent work of PAF Sqn Ldr Sarfraz Rafiqui , CO 5 Sqn PAF and Flt Lieutenant Imtiyaz Bhatti who scalped 04 Vampires and effected a removal of 130 Vampires and over 50 Dassault Ouragan for the remainder of war for IAF,by one single gallant action. This reduced IAF strength by 35% aprrox and few squadrons were in dissuasive posturing for a potential Chinese attack.
The effective ratio was about 1.5:1 (maybe a bit more) in IAF's favor as a result. While the initial air war saw the PAF establish its air superiority quickly, the heavy toll it suffered in bombing raids and CAPs soon created a situation wherein it flew increasingly night missions and more or less left IAF unchallenged in the day. This came about somewhere on 3rd-6th September.
However, the figure being randomly posted here in PDF as being 25(?) for Pakistani losses, is unrealistic and indeed meant purely as a propaganda and a figure of 73 has been documented by cine gun film records and wreckages(as also mentioned in aforementioned work). However, IAF losses were indeed higher and this was attributed to the comparative freedom to launch daylight strikes as PAF increasingly got into a defensive mode fo 5-6 Sept onwards.
The example of Badin raid on a Radar site during broad daylight with not a single PAF interception is quite a glaring example.
It is, though, noteworthy that Sqn Ldr MM Alam got a confirmed kill of 5 Hunters, a feat rare in the world and a testament to his abilities and skill.
@Abingdonboy your inputs/corrections, if any.
@R!CK your inputs/corrections if any.
aor kab tak?
