ghazi52
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Midlink 78 F-111 seen deployed at Masroor Air Base during the Midlink 78. Exercise Midlink 78 was held in November/December 1978 where air and maritime forces of Pakistan and USA interacted with each other off the Karachi coast and in the air spaces around Karachi and the Arabian Sea. As the Flight Commander of No.5 Squadron, I was again fortunate and privileged to have taken part in the Exercise. The air portion of Exercise Midlink 78 was fairly conventional. Red forces (aggressors) were represented by land based USAF F-111 and F-4 squadrons operating from Masroor. PAF Mirage IIIs and F-6s again from Masroor operated in the air defence role. F-111s (singly) and F-4s (in pairs) conducted raids over Masroor while Mirages and F-6s from Masroor carried out interceptions with the aid of air defence radar that were deployed for the purpose. The aggressors ingressed at low levels and while the minimum height from safety point of view was 250 feet Above Ground Level (AGL), the F-111s, having their terrain following radars at their disposal invariably flew in at about 100 feet AGL. We as the defenders rarely complained. As per the Rules of Engagements, the interceptor was permitted to carry out a single attack simulating a heat missile (Fox 2) or gun shot (Fox 3) while the attackers were permitted one hard turn into the interceptor at which point further manoeuvring by both was to cease. These restrictions were placed for flight safety reasons. These restrictions, as we soon learnt, existed on paper only. F-111s, basically being an attack aircraft with little pretence to air combat potential, generally adhered to the laid down rules. The F-4s were a different kettle of fish. They had too much of fighter ego ingrained in their psyche to tamely allow another fighter jock to expose gun camera film on them capturing their theoretical destruction without a serious struggle. On a number of occasions, a hard turn by the strike formation led to full fledged combat at what in our fighter pilots’ lexicon is termed as the ‘deck level’. These manoeuvrings and subsequent claims were never officially revealed as it would have resulted in strict disciplinary actions on both the guilty parties. But unofficially we talked about it in a hushed manner, displaying the cines on the quiet and only to each other. Till the advent of F-15s and then F-16s, F-4s were the most potent fighter/ground attack aircraft in USAF’s inventory. During the Arab – Israeli war of 1973 when the Israeli Air Force possessed both F-4s and Mirages, the former was considered to be their No.1 air combat aircraft. With that impressive background, we expected a very tough dog-fight if the F-4s decided to engage us seriously in air combat. The F-4s, as I had mentioned earlier, on more than one occasion took us on and much to our surprise and delight we normally enjoyed the upper hand in those engagement. Mercifully also, there were no mishaps. F-4 in Mirage gun sight - Midlink 78 Was Mirage a better air superiority fighter than the F-4 or were we better trained in air combat than the F-4 crews we had engaged? Even the F-4 crews were surprised at our dexterity. Informal discussion with the F-4 squadron pilots revealed that the particular squadron we were dealing with had reconnaissance and strike as their primarily roles. Air combat manoeuvres were restricted primarily to defensive manoeuvring. No wonder, we had outperformed that lot of F-4 pilots in the air combat role. Now a word of advice and caution from an old sinner to my younger colleagues. Exercise Midlink was one of the very few occasions when I had deliberately violated the rules and was fortunate to get away with it. In my 28 years of active service with the PAF where I flew practically all the fighters in the PAF inventory for about twenty years, I was not involved in a single accident, major or minor. Either I was fortunate or I really was not a habitual rule breaker. The fact that I was and will always remain a fighter pilot at heart and that we were engaging the world’s premier air force pilots in combat led me to believe, wrongly I realise now, that PAF’s honour had to be protected at any cost. Perhaps we were fortunate or perhaps we had the necessary skill to engage in low level combat without flying into the ground. A bit of both I think and the fact that I had just completed the Combat Commanders’ Course where we had trained for low level combat. My fervent appeal therefore to my young friends is not to indulge in any activity for which you have not been specifically trained, or which is strictly forbidden. |
