Also if someone can confirm was this the very first F-16 recorded kill?
Alexander Rutskoy kill wasn't the first one.
On 17th May,1986, Sqn Ldr Hameed Qadri shot down two Afghani Su-22s in single sortie(1 AIM-9L Kill,1 Gun Kill) during CAP over Parachinar, while flying F-16A (Sr no 85-723) from No.9 Sqn 'Griffins'.
On 3rd March,1987, after taking off from PAF base Minhas, Kamra in F-16A Wng Cdr Abdul Razzak shot down an An-26(Soviet/Afghan) that may have been on a 'ferret' mission to gather electronic intelligence. His AIM-9 Sidewinder connected with the enemy aircraft and it crashed on snow-clad mountains of Miranshah.
He commanded No.9 and No.14 F-16 Sqn and became Officer Commanding CCS. In 1998 he became Air Cdre and was appointed Base Cdr Masroor, Karachi.
He late rose to AVM and embraced Shaadat in the tragic incident of Kohat crash on 20th Feb, 2003.
On 16th April , 1987 Flt Lt Badar-ul-Islam and Khalid Pervez Marwat were advised by the GCI that a border violation has occurred and that there are multiple targets almost directly ahead. Badar who is lead, was cruising at about 450 kt at an altitude of 11,000 ft on a heading of 240 degrees. He maintains altitude and heading and is reminded by his wingman of the need to undertake arming procedures. Badar completes the necessary drill and acknowledges that he has done so to his wingman. Moments later GCI informs him that there are four enemy aircraft at a 22-mile range.
Moments later, GCI reports that another enemy aircraft is still inside Pakistani airspace, so Badar rejects the original lock at a range of 16 miles. He changes to a new course of 260 degrees in order to engage the second pair, which is soon confirmed as being 4 miles inside the border. Badar is now at 16,000 ft and informs GCI that he has four contacts, with a lock-on at 15 miles. Two of the contacts are high and might be Mig-23s flying 'top cover'. The other two are lower, so Badar opts to pursue these, accelerating to 550 kt as he continues to close.
At a range of 6 miles, the growling tone of an AIM-9 becomes audible. Dynamic Launch Zone (DLZ) parameters are not satisfied so Badar continues to close , until at a range of 4 miles, the DLZ parameters are achieved. Visual evidence of this provided by a flashing circle on the HUD. At 3.4 miles from the target, while flying at an altitude of 21,500 ft on a heading 0f 280 degrees, Badar fires his first missile. This appears to come from the port wingtip rail and is almost certainly an AIM-9L. He continues to close and lets go a second missile at 2.9 miles on the same heading but now at 23,000 ft. This comes from the starboard side and is probably an AIM-9P from the underwing stores station. The second missile has only been in flight for a few moments when a hit is observed at a range of 2.5 miles, with the target quite clearly flaming and entering a rapid left-hand spiraling descent. Badar watches for a moment or two, before breaking away at 2.1 miles and initiating a sharp left-hand descending turn as he dives for cover and heads for home. By then, the surviving 'bogie' is at 4 miles range and running almost as fast in the opposite direction as it hurries to get back across the border.
The interesting part of this encounter was that PAF F-16 didn't jettisoned fuel tanks during the dogfight. Flt Lt Badar left flying due to medical reasons and retired as Sqn Ldr, where as his wingman Khalid Pervez Marwat served on.
On 4th August ,1988 Sqn Ldr Athar Bokhari No.14 Sqn scrambled in F-16A 85-725 from Kamra at about 1900 hours, when he reached the area the four bandits returned back, so he began ‘Caping’.
At 1950 hrs GCI reported presence of four more bogies. At 5 nm, Athar was abeam the Su-25 and closing fast. In just a few moments, DLZ criteria were met, but Athar allowed the HUD circle to flash three or four times before firing his starboard AIM-9L at a range of 2.5 nm.
Within seconds of being hit by Athar's sidewinder, the Su-25 pilot (Colonel Alexandrov of the Soviet Armed Forces) ejected. He was subsequently captured.
On 12th September,1988, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood (No.14Sqn) scrambled from Kamra at 0700hrs.He was flying lead in F-16A (Sr.No 85728). He shot down a Soviet Mig-23MLD over Nawagai ,while he was in an altitude of 135 degrees of bank (ie near inverted) at 33,000 ft. His AIM-9L smashed the No.4 aircraft. He shot down two Mig-23s in that mission and a Su-22 on 3rd November, 1988.
On 3rd November,1988, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood & Sqn Ldr Ehetsham Zakariya (No.14Sqn) spotted 6 Afghani Sukhois ( 3 on ground support and 3 flying top cover ) in Tull, near Kohat. Flt Lt Khalid was flying No.2 in F-16A Sr. No 84-717.
Khalid obtained a lock on the No. 2 aircraft, which was flying on the southern side of the formation. The F-16 lead pilot obtained a visual tally, with Khalid following suit moments later. At this time both F-16s were still at 10,000 ft while the bandit - which was confirmed as a Su-22 was some 7000 ft higher.
Khalid's lead elected to press home his attack, but the Su-22 pilot then showed good tactical sense by turning to face the threat. This prevented the first F-16 from getting off a missile, although that its pilot had experienced some difficulty with his Sidewinder which may have prevented him from engaging.
In choosing to evade the threat posed by the leading F-16, the Su-22 pilot placed himself at the risk of attack by Khalid, who wasted no time in making a hard right turn into the Su-22. He duly launched an AIM-9L from a range of 2.7 nm in a head-on pass. While all that was going on, the lead F-16 began maneuvering into a position which would enable him to engage the Su-22 with gunfire from a six-o'clock position. He still had some way to go when Khalid's Sidewinder struck home , smoke and panels falling from the damaged fighter, which continued flying about 10 nm inside Pakistan.
Khalid realised very quickly that the Su-22 was damaged. he waited a few more seconds before launching another AIM-9L at an aspect angle of about 150-160 degrees, this barely leaving the rail before the enemy pilot ejected . This missile also scored a direct hit, causing the Su-22 to break in two and headed earthwards on fire. The Afghani pilot was captured after bailing out and taken POW.
On 31st January ,1989, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood (No.14Sqn) while flying solo night 'hot' scramble in F-16B was directed to investigate a border violation near Bannu and he duly headed towards the area at 10,000 ft under GCI direction. As Khalid moved closer under GCI control, the aircraft put its lights on and was revealed to be An-24. Under the rules of engagement then in fore, Khalid was directed to let it go, so he pulled up and began flying above it, advising GCI that it looked like the An-24 was planning to land. Ultimately the transport made an approach to the River Kuram ( a dried-up river bed) and the pilot may have been under the impression that it was paved runway. Moments after touching down, the An-24 Struck a palm tree and engulfed in a massive explosion, followed by numerous detonations as the load of ammunition it was carrying 'cooked-off' in the intense heat .
This is regarded as 'Manoeuvre' Kill.
