Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

    

  Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases.^[7][8] Lasting just 13 days it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.^[9][10]
During the course of the war, Indian and Pakistani forces clashed on the eastern and western fronts. The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Military signed the Instrument of Surrender, the first and perhaps the only public surrender till date ^{[11] [12]}, on December 16, 1971 following which East Pakistan seceded as the independent state of Bangladesh. Around 97,368 West Pakistanis who were in East Pakistan at the time of its independence, including some 79,700 Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel^[13] and 12,500 civilians,^[13] were taken as prisoners of war by India.

 

Contents

• 1 Background
• 2 India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War
• 3 India's official engagement with Pakistan
  
  
  
  
  
  • 3.1 Objective
  • 3.2 Naval hostilities
  • 3.3 Air operations
  • 3.4 Ground operations
  • 3.5 Surrender of Pakistani forces in East Pakistan
• 4 American and Soviet involvement
• 5 Aftermath
  
  
  
  
  
  • 5.1 India
  • 5.2 Pakistan
  • 5.3 Bangladesh
  • 5.4 Hamoodur Rahman Commission
  • 5.5 Simla Agreement
• 6 Long term consequences
• 7 Important dates
• 8 Military awards
  
  
  
  
  • 8.1 India
  • 8.2 Bangladesh
  • 8.3 Pakistan
• 9 Dramatization
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 Further reading
• 13 External links     
 

Main articles: Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh atrocities

The Indo-Pakistani conflict was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation war, a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis.^[4] The Bangladesh Liberation war ignited after the 1970 Pakistani election, in which the East Pakistani Awami League won 167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan and secured a simple majority in the 313-seat lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament of Pakistan). Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the Six Points to the President of Pakistan and claimed the right to form the government. After the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to yield the premiership of Pakistan to Mujibur, President Yahya Khan called the military, dominated by West Pakistanis to suppress dissent^[14][15].
Mass arrests of dissidents began, and attempts were made to disarm East Pakistani soldiers and police. After several days of strikes and non-cooperation movements, the Pakistani military cracked down on Dhaka on the night of 25 March 1971. The Awami League was banished, and many members fled into exile in India. Mujib was arrested on the night of 25–26 March 1971 at about 1:30 a.m. (as per Radio Pakistan’s news on 29 March 1971) and taken to West Pakistan.
On 27 March 1971, Ziaur Rahman, a rebellious major in the Pakistani army, declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Mujibur^[16]. In April, exiled Awami League leaders formed a government-in-exile in Baidyanathtala of Meherpur. The East Pakistan Rifles, a paramilitary force, defected to the rebellion. A guerrilla troop of civilians, the Mukti Bahini, was formed to help the Bangladesh Army.

India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War

The Pakistan army conducted a widespread genocide against the Bengali population of East Pakistan,^[17] aimed in particular at the minority Hindu population,^[18][19] leading to approximately 10 million^[18][20] people fleeing East Pakistan and taking refuge in the neighboring Indian states.^[17][21] The East Pakistan-India border was opened to allow refugees safe shelter in India. The governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established refugee camps along the border. The resulting flood of impoverished East Pakistani refugees placed an intolerable strain on India's already overburdened economy.^[19]
General Tikka Khan earned the nickname 'Butcher of Bengal' due to the widespread atrocities he committed.^[7] General Niazi commenting on his actions noted 'On the night between 25/26 March 1971 General Tikka struck. Peaceful night was turned into a time of wailing, crying and burning. General Tikka let loose everything at his disposal as if raiding an enemy, not dealing with his own misguided and misled people. The military action was a display of stark cruelty more merciless than the massacres at Bukhara and Baghdad by Chengiz Khan and Halaku Khan... General Tikka... resorted to the killing of civilians and a scorched earth policy. His orders to his troops were: 'I want the land not the people...' Major General Farman had written in his table diary, "Green land of East Pakistan will be painted red". It was painted red by Bengali blood.'^[22]
The national Indian government repeatedly appealed to the international community, but failing to elicit any response,^[23] Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 27 March 1971 expressed full support of her government for the independence struggle of the people of East Pakistan. The Indian leadership under Prime Minister Gandhi quickly decided that it was more effective to end the genocide by taking armed action against Pakistan than to simply give refuge to those who made it across to refugee camps.^[21] Exiled East Pakistan army officers and members of the Indian Intelligence immediately started using these camps for recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas.^[24]
  
India's official engagement with Pakistan

Objective

By November, war seemed inevitable; a massive buildup of Indian forces on the border with East Pakistan had begun. The Indian military waited for winter, when the drier ground would make for easier operations and Himalayan passes would be closed by snow, preventing any Chinese intervention. On 23 November, Yahya Khan declared a state of emergency in all of Pakistan and told his people to prepare for war.^[25]
On the evening of 3 December Sunday, at about 5:40 p.m.,^[26] the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) launched a pre-emptive strike on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra which was 300 miles (480 km) from the border. During this attack the Taj Mahal was camouflaged with a forest of twigs and leaves and draped with burlap because its marble glowed like a white beacon in the moonlight.^[27]
This preemptive strike known as Operation Chengiz Khan, was inspired by the success of Israeli Operation Focus in the Arab-Israeli Six Day War. But, unlike the Israeli attack on Arab airbases in 1967 which involved a large number of Israeli planes, Pakistan flew no more than 50 planes to India and failed to inflict the intended damage.^[28] As a result, the Indian runways were cratered and rendered non-functional for several hours after the attack.^[29]
In an address to the nation on radio that same evening, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi held that the air strikes were a declaration of war against India^[30][31] and the Indian Air Force responded with initial air strikes that very night. These air strikes were expanded to massive retaliatory air strikes the next morning and there after.^[32]
This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the immediate mobilization of troops and launched the full-scale invasion. This involved Indian forces in a massive coordinated air, sea, and land assault. Indian Air Force started flying sorties against Pakistan from midnight and quickly achieved air superiority.^[4][27] The main Indian objective on the western front was to prevent Pakistan from entering Indian soil. There was no Indian intention of conducting any major offensive into West Pakistan.^[26]

Naval hostilities

 

In the western theatre of the war, the Indian Navy, under the command of Vice Admiral Kohli, achieved success by attacking Karachi's port in the code-named Operation Trident^[4] on the night of 4–5 December^[4], which resulted in the sinking of the Pakistani destroyer PNS Khyber and a minesweeper PNS Muhafiz; PNS Shajehan was badly damaged^[4]. This resulted in tactical Indian success: 720 Pakistani sailors were killed or wounded, and Pakistan lost reserve fuel and many commercial ships, thus crippling the Pakistan Navy's further involvement in the conflict. Operation Python^[4] followed Operation Trident which was on the night of 8–9 December^[4], in which Indian rocket-armed motor torpedo boats attacked the Karachi Roads that resulted in further destruction of reserve fuel tanks, and in the sinking of three Pakistani commercial ships in Karachi Harbour.^[4]
In the eastern theatre of the war, the Indian Eastern Naval Command, under Vice Admiral Krishnan, completely isolated East Pakistan by establishing a naval blockade in the Bay of Bengal, trapping the Eastern Pakistani Navy and eight foreign merchant ships in their ports. From 4 December onwards, the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was deployed in which its Sea Hawk fighter-bombers attacked many coastal towns in East Pakistan including Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. Pakistan responded by sending the submarine PNS Ghazi to negate the threat.^[5] Indian Eastern Naval Command laid a trap to sink the submarine and Indian Navy destroyer INS Rajput sank Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi through depth charges off Vishakapatnam's coast^[33][34] reducing Pakistan's control of Bangladeshi coastline^[6] . But on 9 December, the Indian Navy suffered its biggest wartime loss when the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor sank the frigate INS Khukri in the Arabian Sea resulting in a loss of 18 officers and 176 sailors.^[35]
The damage inflicted on the Pakistani Navy stood at 7 gunboats, 1 minesweeper, 1 submarine, 2 destroyers, 3 patrol crafts belonging to the coast guard, 18 cargo, supply and communication vessels, and large scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks in the coastal town of Karachi. Three merchant navy ships - Anwar Baksh, Pasni and Madhumathi - ^[36] and ten smaller vessels were captured.^[37] Around 1900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen were captured by Indian forces in Dhaka.^[38] According to one Pakistan scholar, Tariq Ali, the Pakistan Navy lost a third of its force in the war.^[39]

Air operations

Main article: East Pakistan Air Operations, 1971

After the initial preemptive strike, PAF adopted a defensive stance in response to the Indian retaliation. As the war progressed, the Indian Air Force continued to battle the PAF over conflict zones^[40], but the number of sorties flown by the PAF gradually decreased day-by-day.^[41] The Indian Air Force flew 4,000 sorties while its counterpart, the PAF offered little in retaliation, partly because of the paucity of non-Bengali technical personnel.^[4] This lack of retaliation has also been attributed to the deliberate decision of the PAF High Command to cut its losses as it had already incurred huge losses in the conflict.^[42] The PAF also did not intervene during the Indian Navy's raid on Pakistani naval port city of Karachi.
In the east, the small air contingent of Pakistan Air Force No. 14 Sqn was destroyed, putting the Dhaka airfield out of commission and resulting in Indian air superiority in the east.^[4]
Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, who commanded the eighth, twenty-third, and fifty-seventh divisions, led the Indian thrust into East Pakistan. As these forces attacked Pakistani formations, the Indian Air Force rapidly destroyed the small air contingent in East Pakistan and put the Dhaka airfield out of commission. In the meantime, the Indian Navy effectively blockaded East Pakistan.
The Indian campaign employed "blitzkrieg" techniques, exploiting weakness in the enemy's positions and bypassing opposition, and resulted in a swift victory.^[43] Faced with insurmountable losses, the Pakistani military capitulated in less than a fortnight. On 16 December, the Pakistani forces stationed in East Pakistan surrendered.


Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, who commanded the eighth, twenty-third, and fifty-seventh divisions, led the Indian thrust into East Pakistan. As these forces attacked Pakistani formations, the Indian Air Force rapidly destroyed the small air contingent in East Pakistan and put the Dhaka airfield out of commission. In the meantime, the Indian Navy effectively blockaded East Pakistan.
The Indian campaign employed "blitzkrieg" techniques, exploiting weakness in the enemy's positions and bypassing opposition, and resulted in a swift victory.^[43] Faced with insurmountable losses, the Pakistani military capitulated in less than a fortnight. On 16 December, the Pakistani forces stationed in East Pakistan surrendered.

 

 

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between India and Pakistan. This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the first having been fought in 1947. The war began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India.^[6] The five-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration.^[1]

Much of the war was fought by the countries' land forces in Kashmir and along the International Border between India and Pakistan. This war saw the largest amassing of troops in Kashmir since the Partition of British India in 1947, a number that was overshadowed only during the 2001–2002 military standoff between India and Pakistan. Most of the battles were fought by opposing infantry and armored units, with substantial backing from air forces, and naval operations. Many details of this war, like those of other Indo-Pakistani Wars, remain unclear.^[1]

On August 5, 1965 between 26,000 and 33,000 Pakistani soldiers crossed the Line of Control dressed as Kashmiri locals headed for various areas within Kashmir. Indian forces, tipped off by the local populace, crossed the cease fire line on August 15.^[9]

nitially, the Indian Army met with considerable success, capturing three important mountain positions after a prolonged artillery barrage. By the end of August, however, both sides had relative progress; Pakistan had made progress in areas such as Tithwal, Uri and Punch and India had captured the Haji Pir Pass, eight kilometers into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. On September 1, 1965, Pakistan launched a counterattack, called Operation Grand Slam, with the objective to capture the vital town of Akhnoor in Jammu, which would sever communications and cut off supply routes to Indian troops. Attacking with an overwhelming ratio of troops and technically superior tanks, Pakistan made gains against Indian forces, who were caught unprepared and suffered heavy losses. India responded by calling in its air force to blunt the Pakistani attack. The next day, Pakistan retaliated, its air force attacked Indian forces and air bases in both Kashmir and Punjab. India's decision to open up the theater of attack into Pakistani Punjab forced the Pakistani army to relocate troops engaged in the operation to defend Punjab. Operation Grand Slam therefore failed, as the Pakistan Army was unable to capture Akhnoor; it became one of the turning points in the war when India decided to relieve pressure on its troops in  Kashmir by attacking Pakistan further south.

India crossed the International Border on the Western front on September 6, marking an official beginning of the war.^[11] On September 6, the 15th Infantry Division of the Indian Army, under World War II veteran Major General Prasad, battled a massive counterattack by Pakistan near the west bank of the Ichogil Canal (BRB Canal), which was a de facto border of India and Pakistan. The General's entourage itself was ambushed and he was forced to flee his vehicle. A second, this time successful, attempt to cross the Ichhogil Canal was made over the bridge in the village of Barki, just east of Lahore. These developments brought the Indian Army within the range of Lahore International Airport. As a result, the United States requested a temporary ceasefire to allow it to evacuate its citizens in Lahore. However, the Pakistani counter attack took Khem Karan from Indian forces which tried to divert the attention of Pakistanis from Khem Karan by an attack on Bedian and the adjacent villages.


The thrust against Lahore consisted of the 1st Infantry Division supported by the three tank regiments of the 2nd Independent Armoured Brigade; they quickly advanced across the border, reaching the Ichhogil (BRB) Canal by 6 September. The Pakistani Army held the bridges over the canal or blew up those it could not hold, effectively stalling any further advance by the Indians on Lahore. One unit of the Indian Jat Regiment, 3 Jat, had also crossed the Ichogil canal and captured^[12] the town of Batapore (Jallo Mur to Pakistan) on the west side of the canal. The same day, a counter offensive consisting of an armored division and infantry division supported by Pakistan Air Force Sabres forced the Indian 15th Division to withdraw to its starting point. Although 3 Jat suffered minimal casualties, the bulk of the damage being taken by ammunition and stores vehicles, the higher commanders had no information of 3 Jat's capture of Batapore and misleading information led to the command to withdraw from Batapore and Dograi to Ghosal-Dial. This move brought extreme disappointment^[13] to Lt-Col Desmond Hayde, CO of 3 Jat. Dograi was eventually recaptured by 3 Jat on 21 September, for the second time but after a much harder battle due to Pakistani reinforcements.

 On September 8, 1965, a company of 5 Maratha Light Infantry was sent to reinforce a Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) post at Munabao — a strategic hamlet about 250 kilometres from Jodhpur. Their brief was simple. To hold the post and to keep Pakistan's infantry battalions from overrunning the post at bay. But at Maratha Hill (in Munabao) - as the post has now been christened — the Indian company could barely manage to thwart the intense attack for 24 hours. A company of 3 Guards with 954 heavy mortar battery ordered to reinforce the RAC post at Munabao could never reach. The Pakistani Air Force had strafed the entire area, and also hit a railway train coming from Barmer with reinforcements near Gadra road railway station. On September 10, Munabao fell into Pakistani hands, and efforts to capture the strategic point did not succeed ^[16].
On the days following September 9, both nations' premiere formations were routed in unequal battles. India's 1st Armoured Division, labeled the "pride of the Indian Army", launched an offensive towards Sialkot. The Division divided itself into two prongs, was forced back by the Pakistani 6th Armoured Division at Chawinda and was forced to withdraw after suffering heavy losses of nearly 100 tanks. The Pakistanis followed up their success by launching Operation Windup, which forced the Indians back farther. Similarly, Pakistan's pride, the 1st Armoured Division, pushed an offensive towards Khem Karan, with the intent to capture Amritsar (a major city in Punjab, India) and the bridge on River Beas to Jalandhar.

The Pakistani 1st Armored Division never made it past Khem Karan, however, and by the end of September 10 lay disintegrated by the defences of the Indian 4th Mountain Division at what is now known as the Battle of Asal Uttar (lit. meaning – "Real Answer", or more appropriate English equivalent – "Fitting Response"). The area became known as 'Patton Nagar' (Patton Town), because of the large number of US-made Pakistani Patton tanks. Approximately 97 Pakistani tanks were destroyed or abandoned, with only 32 Indian tanks destroyed or damaged. The Pakistani 1st Armoured Division less 5th Armoured Brigade was next sent to Sialkot sector behind Pakistani 6th Armoured Division where it didn't see action as 6th Armoured Division was already in process of routing Indian 1st Armoured Division which was superior to it in strength.
The war was heading for a stalemate, with both nations holding territory of the other. The Indian army suffered 3,000 battlefield deaths, while Pakistan suffered 3,800. The Indian army was in possession of 710 mile² (1,800 km²) of Pakistani territory and the Pakistan army held 210 mile² (550 km²) of Indian territory. The territory occupied by India was mainly in the fertile Sialkot, Lahore and Kashmir sectors,^[17] while Pakistani land gains were primarily south in deserts opposite to Sindh and in Chumb sector near Kashmir in north.^[18]

Aerial warfare

Main article: Aerial warfare in 1965 India Pakistan War

Further information: Indian Air Force#Second Kashmir War 1965 and Pakistan Air Force#Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

he war saw aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) engaging in combat for the first time since independence. Though the two forces had previously faced off in the First Kashmir War during the late 1940s, that engagement was very limited in scale compared to the 1965 conflict. The IAF was flying large numbers of Hawker Hunter, Indian-manufactured Folland Gnats, de Havilland Vampires, EE Canberra bombers and a squadron of MiG-21s. The PAF's fighter force comprised 102 F-86F Sabres and 12 F-104 Starfighters, along with 24 B-57 Canberra bombers. During the conflict the PAF was out-numbered by around 5:1.^[19]
The PAF's aircraft were largely of American origin, whereas the IAF flew an assortment of Soviet and European aeroplanes. It has been widely reported that the PAF's American aircraft were superior to those of the InAF, but according to some experts this is untrue because the InAF's MiG-21, Hawker Hunter and Folland Gnat fighters actually had higher performance than their PAF counter-part, the F-86 Sabre.^[20] Although the InAF's de Havilland Vampire fighter-bombers were outdated in comparison to the F-86 Sabre, the Hawker Hunter fighters were superior in both power and speed to the F-86 according to Air Cdre (retired) Sajjad Haider, who lead the PAF's No.19 Squadron in combat during the war.^[21]
According to the Indians, the F-86 was vulnerable to the diminutive Folland Gnat, nicknamed "Sabre Slayer."^[22] The PAF's F-104 Starfighter of the PAF was the fastest fighter operating in the subcontinent at that time and was often referred to as "the pride of the PAF". However, according to Air Cdre (retired) Sajjad Haider who flew with the PAF's No.19 Squadron, the F-104 did not deserve this reputation. Being "a high level interceptor designed to neutralise Soviet strategic bombers in altitudes above 40,000 feet," rather than engage in dogfights with agile fighters at low altitudes, it was "unsuited to the tactical environment of the region."^[23] It can be argued that, although the IAF is believed to have feared the Starfighter,^[23] in combat it was not as effective as the IAF's far more agile, albeit much slower, Folland Gnat fighter.^[24][25]

The two countries have made contradictory claims of combat losses during the war and few neutral sources have verified the claims of either country. The PAF claimed it shot down 104 IAF planes and lost 19 of its own, while the IAF claimed it shot down 73 PAF planes and lost 35.^[26] According to one independent source, the PAF flew 86 F-86 Sabres, 10 F-104 Starfighters and 20 B-57 Canberras in a parade soon after the war was over. Thus disproving the IAF's claim of downing 73 PAF fighters, which at the time constituted nearly the entire Pakistani front-line fighter force.^[27]
Indian sources have pointed out that, despite PAF claims of losing only a squadron of combat craft, Pakistan sought to acquire additional aircraft from Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and China within 10 days of the beginning war.^{[citation needed]} But this could be explained by the 5:1 disparity in numbers faced by the PAF.^{[citation needed]}

Tank battles 

 he 1965 war witnessed some of the largest tank battles since World War II. At the beginning of the war, the Pakistani Army had both a numerical advantage in tanks, as well as better equipment overall.^[28] Pakistani armour was largely American-made; it consisted mainly of Patton M-47 and M-48 tanks, but also included many M4 Sherman tanks, some M24 Chaffee light tanks and M36 Jackson tank destroyers, equipped with 90 mm guns.^[29] The bulk of India's tank fleet were older M4 Sherman tanks; some were up-gunned with the French high velocity CN 75 50 guns and could hold their own, whilst some older models were still equipped with the inferior 75 mm M3 L/40 gun. Besides the M4 tanks, India fielded the British-made Centurion Tank Mk 7, with the 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun, and the AMX-13, PT-76, and M3 Stuart light tanks. Pakistan fielded a greater number and more modern artillery; its guns out-ranged those of the Indian artillery, according to Pakistan's Major General T.H. Malik.^[30]

At the outbreak of war in 1965, Pakistan had about 15 armoured cavalry regiments, each with about 45 tanks in three squadrons. Besides the Pattons, there were about 200 M4 Shermans re-armed with 76 mm guns, 150 M24 Chaffee light tank and a few independent squadrons of M36B1 tank destroyers. Most of these regiments served in Pakistan's two armoured divisions, the 1st and 6th Armoured divisions – the latter being in the process of formation.
The Indian Army of the time possessed 17 cavalry regiments, and in the 1950s had begun modernizing them by the acquisition of 164 AMX-13 light tanks and 188 Centurions. The remainder of the cavalry units were equipped with M4 Shermans and a small number of M3A3 Stuart light tanks. India had only a single armoured division, the 1st 'Black Elephant' Armoured Division, also called 'Fakhr-i-Hind' ('Pride of India'), which consisted of the 17th Cavalry (The Poona Horse), the 4th Hodson's Horse, the 16th 'Black Elephant' Cavalry, the 7th Light Cavalry, the 2nd Lancers, the 18th Cavalry and the 62nd Cavalry, the two first named being equipped with Centurions. There was also the 2nd Independent Armoured Brigade, one of whose three regiments, the 3rd Cavalry, was also equipped with Centurions.
Despite the qualitative and numerical superiority of Pakistani armour,^[31] Pakistan was outfought on the battlefield by India, which made progress into the Lahore-Sialkot sector, whilst halting Pakistan's counteroffensive on Amritsar.^[32];^[33] they were sometimes employed in a faulty manner, such as charging prepared defenses during the defeat of Pakistan's 1st Armoured Division at Assal Uttar.

 Although India's tank formations experienced same results, India's attack at the Battle of Chawinda, led by its 1st Armored Division and supporting units, was brought to a grinding halt by the newly raised 6th Armoured Division (ex-100th independent brigade group) in the Chawinda sector. The Indians lost 120 tanks at Chawinda.^[34] One true winner to emerge was India's Centurion battle tank, with its 105 mm gun and heavy armour, which proved superior to the overly complex Pattons and their exaggerated reputations.^[33].However, in the Sialkot sector outnumbered Pattons performed exceedingly well in the hands of the 25th Cavalry and other regiments of the 6th Armoured Division, which exacted a disproportionately heavy toll of Centurions from the Poona Horse and Hodson's Horse. The Indian Army has made much of the fact that some of its Centurions survived repeated hits; yet have failed to point out that the majority of tanks in the Sialkot sector were Shermans whose guns were inadequate even in 1944. Neither the Indian nor Pakistani Army showed any great facility in the use of armoured formations in offensive operations, whether the Pakistani 1st Armoured Division at Asal Uttar or the Indian 1st Armoured Division at Chawinda. In contrast, both proved adept with smaller forces in a defensive role such a the 2nd Armoured Brigade at Asal Uttar and the 25th Cavalry at Chawinda, where they defeated their better equipped but clumsier foes
  

Naval hostilities

The navies of India and Pakistan did not play a prominent role in the war of 1965, although Pakistani accounts dispute this.^[35] On September 7, a flotilla of the Pakistani Navy carried out a small scale bombardment of the Indian coastal town and radar station of Dwarka, which was 200 miles (300 km) south of the Pakistani port of Karachi. Codenamed Operation Dwarka, it did not fulfill its primary objective of disabling the radar station and there was no immediate retaliatory response from India. Later, some of the Indian fleet sailed from Bombay to Dwarka to patrol the area and deter further bombardment. Foreign authors have noted that the "insignificant bombardment"^[36] of the town was a "limited engagement, with no strategic value."^[35]
According to some Pakistani sources, one submarine, PNS Ghazi, kept the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Vikrant besieged in Bombay throughout the war. Indian sources claim that it was not their intention to get into a naval conflict with Pakistan, and wished to restrict the war to a land-based conflict.^[37] Moreover, they note that the Vikrant was in dry dock in the process of refitting. Some Pakistani defence writers have also discounted claims that the Indian Navy was bottled up in Bombay by a single submarine, instead stating that 75% of the Indian Navy was under maintenance in harbour.^[38]

Covert operations

The Pakistan Army launched a number of covert operations to infiltrate and sabotage Indian airbases.^[39] On September 7, 1965, the Special Services Group (SSG) commandos were parachuted into enemy territory. According to Chief of Army Staff General Musa Khan, about 135 commandos were airdropped at three Indian airfields(Halwara, Pathankot and Adampur). The daring attempt proved to be an "unmitigated disaster".^[39] Only 22 commandos returned to Pakistan as planned, 93 were taken prisoner (including one of the Commanders of the operations, Major Khalid Butt), and 20 were killed in encounters with the army, police or civilians^[40] The reason for the failure of the commando mission is attributed to the failure to provide maps, proper briefings and adequate planning or preparation^[41]
Despite failing to sabotage the airfields, Pakistan sources claim that the commando mission affected some planned Indian operations. As the Indian 14th Infantry Division was diverted to hunt for paratroopers, the Pakistan Air Force found the road filled with transport, and destroyed many vehicles.^[42]

 Assessment of losses

 India and Pakistan make widely divergent claims about the damage they inflicted on each other and the amount of damage suffered by them. The following summarizes each nation's claims.

 Neutral assessments

There have been several neutral assessments of the losses incurred by both India and Pakistan during the war. Most of these assessments agree that India had a upper hand over Pakistan when ceasefire was declared. Some of the neutral assessments are mentioned below —

• According to the United States Library of Congress Country Studies:

The war was militarily inconclusive; each side held prisoners and some territory belonging to the other. Losses were relatively heavy—on the Pakistani side, twenty aircraft, 200 tanks, and 3,800 troops. Pakistan's army had been able to withstand Indian pressure, but a continuation of the fighting would only have led to further losses and ultimate defeat for Pakistan. Most Pakistanis, schooled in the belief of their own martial prowess, refused to accept the possibility of their country's military defeat by "Hindu India" and were, instead, quick to blame their failure to attain their military aims on what they considered to be the ineptitude of Ayub Khan and his government.^[54]

• TIME magazine reported that India held 690 mi² of Pakistan territory while Pakistan held 250 mi² of Indian territory in Kashmir and Rajasthan. Additionally, Pakistan had lost almost half its armour temporarily.^[55] The same article stated that -

Severely mauled by the larger Indian armed forces, Pakistan could continue the fight only by teaming up with Red China and turning its back on the U.N.

• Devin T. Hagerty wrote in his book "South Asia in world politics"^[56] –

The invading Indian forces outfought their Pakistani counterparts and halted their attack on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city. By the time United Nations intervened on September 22, Pakistan had suffered a clear defeat.

• In his book "National identity and geopolitical visions",^[57] Gertjan Dijkink writes –

The superior Indian forces, however, won a decisive victory and the army could have even marched on into Pakistani territory had external pressure not forced both combatants to cease their war efforts.

• An excerpt from Stanley Wolpert's India,^[58] summarizing the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, is as follows:

In three weeks the second Indo-Pak War ended in what appeared to be a draw when the embargo placed by Washington on U.S. ammunition and replacements for both armies forced cessation of conflict before either side won a clear victory. India, however, was in a position to inflict grave damage to, if not capture, Pakistan's capital of the Punjab when the cease-fire was called, and controlled Kashmir's strategic Uri-Poonch bulge, much to Ayub's chagrin.

• In his book titled The greater game: India's race with destiny and China, David Van Praagh wrote^[59] –

India won the war. It gained 1,840 square kilometers of Pakistani territory: 640 square kilometers in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan's portion of the state; 460 square kilometers of the Sailkot sector; 380 square kilometers far to the south of Sindh; and most critical, 360 square kilometers on the Lahore front. Pakistan took 540 square kilometers of Indian territory: 490 square kilometers in the Chhamb sector and 50 square kilometers around Khem Karan.

• Dennis Kux's "India and the United States estranged democracies" also provides a summary of the war.^[60]

Although both sides lost heavily in men and materiel, and neither gained a decisive military advantage, India had the better of the war. New Delhi achieved its basic goal of thwarting Pakistan's attempt to seize Kashmir by force. Pakistan gained nothing from a conflict which it had instigated.

• "A region in turmoil: South Asian conflicts since 1947" by Robert Johnson mentions^[61] –

India's strategic aims were modest – it aimed to deny Pakistani Army victory,

although it ended up in possession of 720 square miles (1,900 km²) of Pakistani territory for the loss of just 220 square miles (570 km²) of its own.

• An excerpt from William M. Carpenter and David G. Wiencek's "Asian security handbook: terrorism and the new security environment"^[62] –

A brief but furious 1965 war with India began with a covert Pakistani thrust across the Kashmiri cease-fire line and ended up with the city of Lahore threatened with encirclement by Indian Army. Another UN-sponsored cease-fire left borders unchanged, but Pakistan's vulnerability had again been exposed.

• English historian John Keay's "India: A History" provides a summary of the 1965 war^[63] –

The 1965 Indo-Pak war lasted barely a month. Pakistan made gains in the Rajasthan desert but its main push against India's Jammu-Srinagar road link was repulsed and Indian tanks advanced to within a sight of Lahore. Both sides claimed victory but India had most to celebrate.

• Uk Heo and Shale Asher Horowitz write in their book "Conflict in Asia: Korea, China-Taiwan, and India-Pakistan"^[64] –

Again India appeared, logistically at least, to be in a superior position but neither side was able to mobilize enough strength to gain a decisive victory.

• Newsweek magazine, however, praised the Pakistani military's ability to hold of the much larger Indian Army.^[65]

"By just the end of the week, in fact, it was clear that the Pakistanis were more than holding their own."

Ceasefire

The United States and the Soviet Union used significant diplomatic tools to prevent any further escalation in the conflict between the two South Asian nations. The Soviet Union, led by Premier Alexei Kosygin, hosted ceasefire negotiations in Tashkent (now in Uzbekistan), where Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani President Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Agreement, agreeing to withdraw to pre-August lines no later than February 25, 1966.
With declining stockpiles of ammunition, Pakistani leaders feared the war tilting in India's favor. Therefore, they quickly accepted the ceasefire in Tashkent.^[66] Despite strong opposition from Indian military leaders, India budged to growing international diplomatic pressure and accepted the ceasefire.^[66] On September 22, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution that called for an unconditional ceasefire from both nations. The war ended the following day.
India's Prime Minister, Shastri, suffered a fatal heart attack soon after the declaration of the ceasefire. As a consequence, the public outcry in India against the ceasefire declaration transformed into a wave of sympathy for the ruling Indian National Congress.^[67] The ceasefire was criticized by many Pakistanis who, relying on fabricated official reports and the controlled Pakistani press, believed that the leadership had surrendered military gains. The protests led to student riots.^[68] Pakistan State's reports had suggested that their military was performing admirably in the war – which they incorrectly blamed as being initiated by India – and thus the Tashkent Declaration was seen as having forfeited the gains.^[69] Some recent books written by Pakistani authors, including one by ex-ISI chief titled "The Myth of 1965 Victory",^[70] allegedly exposed Pakistani fabrications about the war, but all copies of the book were bought by Pakistan Army to prevent publication because the topic was "too sensitive".^[71][72]
India and Pakistan accused each other of ceasefire violations; India charged Pakistan with 585 violations in 34 days, while Pakistan countered with accusations of 450 incidents by India.^[73] In addition to the expected exchange of small arms and artillery fire, India reported that Pakistan utilized the ceasefire to capture the Indian village of Chananwalla in the Fazilka sector. This village was recaptured by Indian troops on 25 December. On October 10, a B-57 Canberra on loan to the PAF was damaged by 3 SA-2 missiles fired from the IAF base at Ambala.^[74] A Pakistani Army Auster was shot down on 16 December, killing one Pakistani army captain and on 2 February 1967, an AOP was shot down by IAF Hunters.
The ceasefire remained in effect until the start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

 Intelligence failures

Strategic miscalculations by both India and Pakistan ensured that the war ended in a stalemate —

Indian miscalculations

Indian military intelligence gave no warning of the impending Pakistan invasion. The Indian Army failed to recognize the presence of heavy Pakistani artillery and armaments in Chumb and suffered significant losses as a result.
The "Official History of the 1965 War", drafted by the Ministry of Defence of India in 1992, was a long suppressed document that revealed other miscalculations. According to the document, on September 22 when the Security Council was pressing for a ceasefire, the Indian Prime Minister asked commanding Gen. Chaudhuri if India could possibly win the war, were he to delay accepting the ceasefire. The general replied that most of India's frontline ammunition had been used up and the Indian Army had suffered considerable tank losses. It was determined later that only 14% of India's frontline ammunition had been fired and India held twice the number of tanks as Pakistan. By this time, the Pakistani Army had used close to 80% of its ammunition.
Air Chief Marshal (retd) P.C. Lal, who was the Vice Chief of Air Staff during the conflict, points to the lack of coordination between the IAF and the Indian army. Neither side revealed its battle plans to the other. The battle plans drafted by the Ministry of Defence and General Chaudhari, did not specify a role for the Indian Air Force in the order of battle. This attitude of Gen. Chaudhari was referred to by ACM Lal as the "Supremo Syndrome", a patronizing attitude sometimes held by the Indian army towards the other branches of the Indian Military.^[45]
 

Pakistani miscalculations

The Pakistani Army's failures started with the supposition that a generally discontented Kashmiri people, given the opportunity provided by the Pakistani advance, would revolt against their Indian rulers, bringing about a swift and decisive surrender of Kashmir. The Kashmiri people, however, did not revolt. Instead, the Indian Army was provided with enough information to learn of Operation Gibraltar and the fact that the Army was battling not insurgents, as they had initially supposed, but Pakistani Army regulars.


The Pakistani Army also failed to recognize that the Indian policy makers would order an attack on the southern sector in order to open a second theater of conflict. Pakistan was forced to dedicate troops to the southern sector to protect Sialkot and Lahore instead using them to support penetrating into Kashmir.
"Operation Grand Slam", which was launched by Pakistan to capture Akhnoor, a town north-east of Jammu and a key region for communications between Kashmir and the rest of India, was also a failure. Many Pakistani commentators criticized the Ayub Khan administration for being indecisive during Operation Grand Slam. These critics claim that the operation failed because Ayub Khan knew the importance of Akhnur to India (having called it India's "jugular vein") and did not want to capture it and drive the two nations into an all-out war. Despite progress being made in Akhnur, General Ayub Khan relieved the commanding Major General Akhtar Hussain Malik and replaced him with Gen. Yahya Khan. A 24-hour lull ensued the replacement, which allowed the Indian army to regroup in Akhnur and successfully oppose a lackluster attack headed by General Yahya Khan. "The enemy came to our rescue", asserted the Indian Chief of Staff of the Western Command. Later, Akhtar Hussain Malik criticized Ayub Khan for planning Operation Gibraltar, which was doomed to fail, and for relieving him of his command at a crucial moment in the war. Malik threatened to expose the truth about the war and the army's failure, but later dropped the idea for fear of being banned.^[75]
Some authors have noted that Pakistan might have been emboldened by a war game – conducted in March 1965, at the Institute of Defence Analysis, USA. The exercise concluded that, in the event of a war with India, Pakistan would win.^[76][77] Other authors like Stephen Philip Cohen, have consistently commented that the Pakistan Army had "acquired an exaggerated view of the weakness of both India and the Indian military... the 1965 war was a shock".^[78]
 Pakistani Air Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of PAF during the war, Nur Khan, later said that the Pakistan Army, and not India, should be blamed for starting the war.^[79][80] However propaganda in Pakistan about the war continued; the war was not rationally analyzed in Pakistan,^[81][82] with most of the blame being heaped on the leadership and little importance given to intelligence failures that persisted until the debacle of the 1971 war, when then East Pakistan was invaded by India and seceded from West Pakistan, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.

Involvement of other nations

The United States of America, which had previously supplied military equipment to India and Pakistan, imposed an embargo against further supplies to both countries once the war had started. The US was apprehensive that military equipment that it had provided to be used in a battle against communism, would instead be used by the countries to fight one another. The American embargo especially affected Pakistan since the majority of its equipment was provided by America. This would cause Pakistan to believe that it could not continue the war beyond September.^[83]
Following imposition of the American embargo, other NATO allies (including the UK) discontinued providing military equipment to the nations.
Both before and during the war, China had been a major military associate of Pakistan and had invariably admonished India, with whom it had fought a war in 1962. There were also reports of Chinese troop movements on the Indian border to support Pakistan.^[84] As such, India agreed to the UN mandate in order to avoid a war on both borders.
India's participation in the Non-Aligned Movement yielded little support from its members. Pakistan, however, gained assistance from countries of Asia with large Islamic populations, including Turkey, Iran and Indonesia. The USSR was more neutral than most other nations during the war and even invited both nations to talks that it would host in Tashkent.^[85][86]
 Aftermath



India

Despite the declaration of a ceasefire, India was perceived as the victor due to its success in halting the Pakistan-backed insurgency in Kashmir.^[87] In its October 1965 issue, the TIME magazine quoted a Western official assessing the consequences of the war^[88] —

Now it's apparent to everybody that India is going to emerge as an Asian power in its own right.

In light of the failures of the Sino-Indian War, the outcome of the 1965 war was viewed as a "politico-strategic" victory in India. The Indian premier, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was hailed as a national hero in India.^[89]
While the overall performance of the Indian military was praised, military leaders were criticized for their failure to effectively deploy India's superior armed forces so as to achieve a decisive victory over Pakistan.^[90] In his book "War in the modern world since 1815", noted war historian Jeremy Black said that though Pakistan "lost heavily" during the 1965 war, India's hasty decision to call for negotiations prevented further considerable damage to the Pakistan Armed Forces. He elaborates^[91] —

India's chief of army staff urged negotiations on the ground that they were running out ammunition and their number of tanks had become seriously depleted. In fact, the army had used less than 15% of its ammunition compared to Pakistan, which had consumed closer to 80 percent and India had double the number of serviceable tanks.

As a consequence, India focussed on enhancing communication and coordination within and among the triservices of the Indian Armed Forces. Partly as a result of the inefficient information gathering preceding the war, India established the Research and Analysis Wing for external espionage and intelligence. Major improvements were also made in command and control to address various shortcomings and the positive impact of these changes was clearly visible during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 when India achieved a decisive victory over Pakistan within two weeks.
China's repeated threats to intervene in the conflict in support of Pakistan increased pressure on the government to take an immediate decision to develop nuclear weapons.^[92] Despite repeated assurances, the United States did little to prevent extensive use of American arms by Pakistani forces during the conflict which irked India.^[93] At the same time, the United States and United Kingdom refused to supply India with sophisticated weaponry which further strained the relations between the West and India.^[94] These developments led to a significant change in India's foreign policy — India, which had previously championed the cause of non-alignment, distanced itself further from Western powers and developed close relations with the Soviet Union. By the end of 1960s, the Soviet Union emerged as the biggest supplier of military hardware to India.^[95] From 1967 to 1977, 81% of India's arms imports were from the Soviet Union.^[96] After the 1965 war, the arms race between India and Pakistan became even more asymmetric and India was outdistancing Pakistan by far.^[97]
  
Pakistan
At the conclusion of the war, many Pakistanis considered the performance of their military to be positive. September 6 is celebrated as 'Defence Day' in Pakistan, in commemoration of the successful defence of Lahore against the Indian army. The performance of the Pakistani Air Force, in particular, was praised.
However, the Pakistani government was accused by foreign analysts of spreading disinformation among its citizens regarding the actual consequences of the war.^[98] In his book "Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani foreign policies", S.M. Burke writes^[56] —

After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 the balance of military power had decisively shifted in favor of India. Pakistan had found it difficult to replace the heavy equipment lost during that conflict while her adversary, despite her economic and political problems, had been determinedly building up her strength.

Most observers agree that the myth of a mobile, hard hitting Pakistan Army was badly dented in the war, as critical breakthroughs were not made.^[99] Several Pakistani writers criticized the military's ill-founded belief that their "martial race" of soldiers could defeat "Hindu India" in the war.^[100][101] Rasul Bux Rais, a Pakistani political analyst wrote^[102] –

The 1965 war with India proved that Pakistan could neither break the formidable Indian defenses in a blitzkrieg fashion nor could she sustain an all-out conflict for long.

Moreover, Pakistan had lost more ground than it had gained during the war and, more importantly, failed to achieve its goal of occupying Kashmir; this result has been viewed by many impartial observers as a defeat for Pakistan.^{[103][104][105]}
Many high ranking Pakistani officials and military experts later criticized the faulty planning of Operation Gibraltar that ultimately led to the war. The Tashkent declaration was also criticized in Pakistan, though few citizens realised the gravity of the situation that existed at the end of the war. Political leaders were also criticized. Following the advice of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's foreign minister, Ayub Khan had raised very high expectations among the people of Pakistan about the superiority – if not invincibility – of its armed forces,^[106] but Pakistan's inability to attain its military aims during the war, created a political liability for Ayub.^[107] The defeat of its Kashmiri ambitions in the war led to the army's invincibility being challenged by an increasingly vocal opposition.^[108]
One of the most far reaching consequences of the war was the wide-scale economic slowdown in Pakistan.^[109][110] The cost of the 1965 war put an end to the impressive period economic growth Pakistan had experienced during early 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966, Pakistan's defence spending rose from 4.82% to 9.86% of GDP, putting tremendous strain on Pakistan's economy. By 1970–71, defence spending comprised a whopping 55.66% of government expenditure.^[111]
Pakistan was surprised by the lack of support by the United States, an ally with whom the country had signed an Agreement of Cooperation. USA declared its neutrality in the war by cutting off military supplies to both sides,^[9] leading Islamabad to believe that they were "betrayed" by the United States.^[112] After the war, Pakistan would increasingly look towards China as a major source of military hardware and political support.
Another negative consequence of the war was the growing resentment against the Pakistani government in East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh),^[78] particularly for West Pakistan's obsession with Kashmir.^[113] Bengali leaders accused the central government of not providing adequate security for East Pakistan during the conflict, even though large sums of money were taken from the east to finance the war for Kashmir.^[114] In fact, despite some Pakistan Air Force attacks being launched from bases in East Pakistan during the war, India did not retaliate in that sector,^[115] although East Pakistan was defended only by an understrenghted infantry division (14 Division), sixteen planes and no tanks.^[116] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was critical of the disparity in military resources deployed in East and West Pakistan, calling for greater autonomy for East Pakistan, which ultimately led to the Bangladesh Liberation war and another war between India and Pakistan in 1971.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

United States Air Force

World Big Air Force

 

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare, space warfare, and cyberwarfare service branch of the United States armed forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947.^[1] It is the most recent branch of the U.S. military to be formed. In its 2010 Posture Statement, the USAF articulates its core functions as Nuclear Deterrence Operations, Special Operations, Air Superiority, Global Integrated ISR, Space Superiority, Command and Control, Cyberspace Superiority, Personnel Recovery, Global Precision Attack, Building Partnerships, Rapid Global Mobility and Agile Combat Support.^[3]
As of 2009^[update] the USAF operates 5,573 manned aircraft in service (3,990 USAF; 1,213 Air National Guardd; and 370 Air Force Reserve);^[4] approximately 180 unmanned combat air vehicles, 2,130 air-launched cruise missiles,^[5] and 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The USAF has 330,159 personnel on active duty, 68,872 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 94,753 in the Air National Guard as of September 2008. In addition, the USAF employs 151,360 civilian personnel,^[6] and has 57,000 auxiliary members in the Civil Air Patrol.^[7]
The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force who oversees all administrative and policy affairs. The Department of the Air Force is a division of the Department of Defense, headed by the Secretary of Defense. The highest ranking military officer in the Department of the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

World Big Air Force

Contents

• 1 Mission
  • 1.1 Search and rescue
  • 1.2 Air sovereignty
  • 1.3 Irregular warfare
  • 1.4 Airlift
• 2 History
  • 2.1 Recent history
  • 2.2 Conflicts
  • 2.3 Humanitarian operations
• 3 Organization
  • 3.1 Administrative organization
  • 3.2 Force structure (Major Commands)
  • 3.3 Operational organization
  • 3.4 Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force
  • 3.5 Commander, Air Force Forces
    • 3.5.1 Air Operations Center
  • 3.6 Air Expeditionary Wings/Groups/Squadrons
• 4 Personnel
  • 4.1 Commissioned officers
  • 4.2 Warrant officers
  • 4.3 Enlisted airmen
  • 4.4 Uniforms
  • 4.5 Awards and badges
  • 4.6 Training
    • 4.6.1 Air Force Fitness Test
• 5 Aircraft inventory
  • 5.1 A - Ground attack
  • 5.2 B - Bombers
  • 5.3 C - Cargo transport
  • 5.4 E - Special electronic missions
  • 5.5 F - Fighters
  • 5.6 H - Search and rescue
  • 5.7 K - Tanker
  • 5.8 M - Multi-mission
    • 5.8.1 Multi-mission RPAs (Remote Piloted Aircraft)
  • 5.9 O - Observation
  • 5.10 R - Reconnaissance
  • 5.11 T - Trainer
  • 5.12 U - Utility
  • 5.13 V - VIP staff transport
  • 5.14 W - Weather reconnaissance
  • 5.15 Undesignated foreign aircraft used by Special Operations Squadrons
• 6 Culture
  • 6.1 Slogans and creeds
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links
  • 9.1 Other

Mission

According to the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 502), which created the USAF:

In general the United States Air Force shall include aviation forces both combat and service not otherwise assigned. It shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The Air Force shall be responsible for the preparation of the air forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war except as otherwise assigned and, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Air Force to meet the needs of war.

§8062 of Title 10 US Code defines the purpose of the USAF as:^[9]

• to preserve the peace and security, and provide for the defense, of the United States, the Territories, Commonwealths, and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States;
• to support national policy;
• to implement national objectives;
• to overcome any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.

The stated mission of the USAF today is to "fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace".^[10]

Search and rescue

See also: United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center

The National Search and Rescue Plan designates the United States Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime search-and-rescue (SAR) operations, and the USAF as responsible for aeronautical SAR in the continental U.S. with the exception of Alaska.^[11] Both agencies maintain Joint Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort.^[12] To help the USAF with the vast number of search and rescue operations, the USAF assigns units of the Civil Air Patrol — the official U.S. Air Force Auxiliary — in over 60% of inland search and rescue missions.

Air sovereignty

The USAF, through the Air National Guard, is the lead agency to maintain control of America's airspace.
On July 30, 2009, Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, director of the Air National Guard said that "Technologies needed for the mission include an active, electronically scanned array radar (which can be used to detect small and stealthy air threats including cruise missiles), infrared search and track systems and beyond-line-of-sight communications".^[13]
On September 14, 2009, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, chief of staff of the USAF, said that he hopes "to bring a combination of F-22, F-35, legacy aircraft, including upgraded F-15 and F-16 fighters, and unmanned aircraft to the [air sovereignty alert] ASA mission."^[14]
Even so, the USAF plans to retire up to 80% of their total force air sovereignty mission aircraft, which would leave no viable aircraft at 18 current air sovereignty sites after 2015.^[15][16][17] The GAO found that 17 of the 20 commanders of the ASA units "stated that the Air Force treats ASA operations as a temporary mission and has not provided sufficient resources."^[18]
The USAF has decided to accept "moderate risk" for the air sovereignty mission as well as deep strike and close air support, under optimistic assumptions for F-35 production.^[19]
The Defense Department has used USN and USMC aircraft for the Air Sovereignty Mission and may do so in the future.^[15]

Irregular warfare

In response to the conflicts in which the United States has been engaged since the end of the Cold War, on August 1, 2007, Air Force Doctrine Document 2-3 was released showing how air power could be used to support or defeat an insurgency.^[20]
To support these missions, the USAF considered outfitting a counter-insurgency wing with small, ground attack aircraft that can also be used for training USAF and allied pilots in addition to counterinsurgency operations.^[21] However the 2010 QDR shifted the future light fixed-wing aircraft to the Air Force’s 6th Special Operations Squadron to be used to train allied forces.^[22]

Airlift

The USAF provides both strategic and tactical airlift in support of wartime, peacetime, and humanitarian efforts of the Department of Defense.
The GAO found that Air Force plans should cover strategic airlift, but that it may fall short in providing tactical airlift in support of the United States Army.^[23]

History

Main article: History of the United States Air Force

The Army created the first antecedent of the USAF in 1907, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions advanced toward eventual separation 40 years later. The USAF became a separate military service on September 18, 1947, with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.^[24] The Act created the United States Department of Defense, which was composed of three subordinate departments, namely the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy and a newly-created Department of the Air Force.^[25] Prior to 1947, the responsibility for military aviation was shared between the Army (for land-based operations), the Navy (for sea-based operations from aircraft carriers and amphibious aircraft), and the Marine Corps (for close air support of infantry operations).

The predecessor organizations of today's USAF are:

• Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps (August 1, 1907 to July 18, 1914)
• Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps (July 18, 1914 to May 20, 1918)
• Division of Military Aeronautics (May 20, 1918 to May 24, 1918)
• U.S. Army Air Service (May 24, 1918 to July 2, 1926)
• U.S. Army Air Corps (July 2, 1926 to June 20, 1941) and
• U.S. Army Air Forces (June 20, 1941 to September 17, 1947)

Recent history

Since 2005, the USAF has placed a strong focus on the improvement of Basic Military Training (BMT). While the intense training has become, not only longer, it also has shifted to include a deployment phase. This deployment phase, now called the BEAST, places the trainees in a surreal environment that they may experience once they deploy. While the trainees do tackle the massive obstacle courses along with the BEAST, the other portions include defending and protecting their base of operations, forming a structure of leadership, directing search and recovery, and basic self aid buddy care. During this event, the Military Training Instructors (MTI) act as mentors and enemy forces in a very strenuous deployment exercise. In the entirety of BMT, trainees will experience a rigorous 8.5 week training course designed to not only instill discipline, but to mold and shape the trainees around the core values that make every Airman who they are. While in BMT, you can expect sleep deprivation, minimal time for food, physical training, more physical training, and some of the most experienced, disiciplined, strict, sharp and loud instructors the military has to offer. The United States Air Force BMT is now widely considered one of the tougher Bootcamps of the four Military branches.
In 2007, the USAF undertook a reduction-in-force. Because of budget constraints, the USAF planned to reduce the service's size from 360,000 active duty personnel to 316,000.^[26] The size of the active-duty force in 2007 was roughly 64% of that of the USAF at the end of the Gulf War in 1991.^[27] However, the reduction was ended at approximately 330,000 personnel in 2008 to meet mission requirements.^[26] These same constraints have seen a sharp reduction in flight hours for crew training since 2005^[28] and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel directing Airmen's Time Assessments.^[29]
On June 5, 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, accepted the resignations of both the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael W. Wynne, and the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Gates in effect fired both men for "systemic issues associated with declining Air Force nuclear mission focus and performance". This followed an investigation into two embarrassing incidents involving mishandling of nuclear weapons, and were also the culmination of disputes between the Air Force leadership and Gates.^[30] To put more emphasis on nuclear assets, the USAF established the nuclear-focused Air Force Global Strike Command on 24 October 2008.^[31]
On June 26, 2009, the USAF released a force structure plan that cuts fighter aircraft and shifts resources to better support nuclear, irregular and information warfare.^[32] On July 23, 2009, The USAF released their Unmanned Aerial System Flight Plan, detailing UAV plans through 2047.^[33] One third of the planes that the USAF plans to buy in the future are to be unmanned.^[34]
On June 25, 2010, Air Force magazine reported that various weapons systems were being considered to be dropped to help make $32 billion in cuts to be transferred to the budgets of the other services.^[35]

Conflicts

The United States has been involved in many wars, conflicts and operations using military air operations. Air combat operations before, and since the official conception of the USAF include:

• World War I^[36] as Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
• World War II^[36] as United States Army Air Forces
• Cold War
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• Operation Eagle Claw (1980 Iranian Hostage Rescue)
• Operation Urgent Fury (1983 US Invasion of Grenada)
• Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986 US Bombing of Libya)
• Operation Just Cause (1989-1990 US Invasion of Panama)
• Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991 Persian Gulf War)
• Operation Southern Watch (1992-2003 Iraq No-Fly Zone)
• Operation Deliberate Force (1995 NATO bombing in Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Operation Northern Watch (1997-2003 Iraq No-Fly Zone)
• Operation Allied Force (1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia)
• Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–present Afghanistan War)
• Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003–2010 Iraq War)

 

Humanitarian operations

The USAF has also taken part in numerous humanitarian operations. Some of the more major ones include the following:^[37]

• Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles), 1948-1949
• Operation Safe Haven, 1956-1957
• Operations Babylift, New Life, Frequent Wind, and New Arrivals, 1975
• Operation Provide Comfort, 1991
• Operation Sea Angel, 1991
• Operation Provide Hope, 1992–1993
• Operation Unified Assistance, December 2004 - April 2005
• Operation Unified Response, January 14, 2010–present

Organization

Main articles: Organizational structure and hierarchy of the United States Air Force and Department of the Air Force structure

Administrative organization

The USAF is one of three service departments, and is managed by the civilian Department of the Air Force. Guidance is provided by the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) and the Secretary's staff and advisors. The military leadership is the Air Staff, led by the Chief of Staff.
USAF direct subordinate commands and units are the Field Operating Agency (FOA), Direct Reporting Unit (DRU), and the currently unused Separate Operating Agency.
The Major Command (MAJCOM) is the superior hierarchical level of command. Including the Air Force Reserve Command, as of September 30, 2006, USAF has ten major commands. The Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a level of command directly under the MAJCOM, followed by Operational Command (now unused), Air Division (also now unused), Wing, Group, Squadron, and Flight.

Force structure (Major Commands)

Headquarters, United States Air Force, The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia

• Air Combat Command (ACC), headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia
  • First Air Force, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, Florida
  • Ninth Air Force, headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina
  • Twelfth Air Force, headquartered at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona
  • United States Air Force Warfare Center, headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
• Air Education and Training Command (AETC), headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
  • Second Air Force, headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi
  • Nineteenth Air Force, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
  • Air Force Recruiting Service, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
  • The Air University, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
  • Wilford Hall Medical Center, headquarted at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
• Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana
  • Eighth Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana
  • Twentieth Air Force, headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
  • Aeronautical Systems Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
  • Air Force Flight Test Center, headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base, Palmdale, California
  • Air Force Global Logistics Support Center, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois
  • Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, headquartered at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Air Force Research Laboratory, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
  • Air Force Security Assistance Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
  • Air Armament Center, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida
  • Arnold Engineering Development Center, located at Arnold Air Force Base, Manchester, Tennessee
  • Electronic Systems Center, headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts
• Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), headquartered at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
  • Fourth Air Force, headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, Southern California
  • Tenth Air Force, headquartered at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas
  • Twenty-Second Air Force, headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia
  • Air Reserve Personnel Center, headquartered at Denver, Colorado
• Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • Fourteenth Air Force, headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California
  • Twenty-Fourth Air Force, headquarters at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
  • Space and Missile Systems Center, headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California
  • Space Innovation and Development Center, headquartered at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado
  • Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida
    • Twenty-Third Air Force, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida
    • Special Operations Training Center, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida
  • Air Mobility Command (AMC), headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois
    • Eighteenth Air Force, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois
    • United States Air Force Expeditionary Center, headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
  • United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany
    • Third Air Force, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany
    • Seventeenth Air Force, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany
  • Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
    • Fifth Air Force, headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan
    • Seventh Air Force, headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea
    • Eleventh Air Force, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska
    • Thirteenth Air Force, headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
  
  The major components of the U.S. Air Force, as of September 30, 2006, are the following:^[38]
  
• Active duty forces:
  • 57 flying wings, eight space wings, and 55 non-flying wings
  • nine flying groups, eight non-flying groups
    • 134 flying squadrons, 43 space squadrons
• Air Force Reserve
  • 35 flying wings, one space wing
  • four flying groups
    • 67 flying squadrons, six space squadrons

• Air National Guard
  • 87 flying wings
    • 101 flying squadrons, four space squadrons

The USAF, including its Air Force Reserve components, possesses a total of 302 flying squadrons.^[39]

Operational organization

List of active United States Air Force aircraft squadrons
The above organizational structure is responsible for the peacetime organization, equipping, and training of aerospace units for operational missions. When required to support operational missions, the National Command Authority directs a Change in Operational Control (CHOP) of these units from their peacetime alignment to a Regional Combatant Commander (CCDR). In the case of AFSPC, AFSOC, PACAF, and USAFE units, forces are normally employed in-place under their existing CCDR. Likewise, AMC forces operating in support roles retain their componency to USTRANSCOM unless chopped to a Regional CCDR.

Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force

"Chopped" units are referred to as forces. The top-level structure of these forces is the Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force (AETF). The AETF is the Air Force presentation of forces to a CCDR for the employment of Air Power. Each CCDR is supported by a standing Component Numbered Air Force (C-NAF) to provide planning and execution of aerospace forces in support of CCDR requirements. Each C-NAF consists of a Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) and AFFOR/A-staff, and an Air Operations Center (AOC). As needed to support multiple Joint Force Commanders (JFC) in the COCOM's Area of Responsibility (AOR), the C-NAF may deploy Air Component Coordinate Elements (ACCE) to liaise with the JFC. If the Air Force possesses the preponderance of air forces in a JFC's area of operations, the COMAFFOR will also serve as the Joint Forces Air Component Commander (JFACC).

Commander, Air Force Forces

The Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) is the senior USAF officer responsible for the employment of air power in support of JFC objectives. The COMAFFOR has a special staff and an A-Staff to ensure assigned or attached forces are properly organized, equipped, and trained to support the operational mission.

Air Operations Center

The Air Operations Center (AOC) is the JFACC's Command and Control (C2) center. This center is responsible for planning and executing air power missions in support of JFC objectives.

Air Expeditionary Wings/Groups/Squadrons

The AETF generates air power to support COCOM objectives from Air Expeditionary Wings (AEW) or Air Expeditionary Groups (AEG). These units are responsible for receiving combat forces from Air Force MAJCOMs, preparing these forces for operational missions, launching and recovering these forces, and eventually returning forces to the MAJCOMs. Theater Air Control Systems control employment of forces during these missions.

Personnel

The classification of any USAF job is the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC). They range from flight combat operations such as a gunner, to working in a dining facility to ensure that members are properly fed. There are many different jobs in fields such as computer specialties, mechanic specialties, enlisted aircrew, communication systems, avionics technicians, medical specialties, civil engineering, public affairs, hospitality, law, drug counseling, mail operations, security forces, and search and rescue specialties.^[40]
Perhaps the most dangerous USAF jobs are Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Combat rescue officer, Pararescue, Security Forces, Combat Control, Combat Weather , Tactical Air Control Party, and AFOSI agents, who deploy with infantry and special operations units who disarm bombs, rescue downed or isolated personnel, call in air strikes and set up landing zones in forward locations. Most of these are enlisted positions. Other jobs have seen increasing combat, including engineers, vehicle operators, and OSI.
Nearly all enlisted jobs are "entry level," meaning that the USAF provides all training. Some enlistees are able to choose a particular job, or at least a field before actually joining, while others are assigned an AFSC at Basic Military Training (BMT). After BMT, new airmen attend a technical training school where they learn their particular AFSC. Second Air Force, a part of Air Education and Training Command, is responsible for nearly all technical training.
Training programs vary in length; for example, 3M0X1 (Services) has 31 days of tech school training, while 3E8X1 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) is one year of training with a preliminary school and a main school consisting of over 10 separate divisions, sometimes taking students close to two years to complete.
USAF rank is divided between enlisted airmen, non-commissioned officers, and commissioned officers, and ranges from the enlisted Airman Basic (E-1) to the commissioned rank of General (O-10). Enlisted promotions are granted based on a combination of test scores, years of experience, and selection board approval while officer promotions are based on time-in-grade and a promotion board. Promotions among enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers are generally designated by increasing numbers of insignia chevrons. Commissioned officer rank is designated by bars, oak leaves, a silver eagle, and anywhere from one to four stars (one to five stars in war-time).

Commissioned officers

Main article: United States Air Force officer rank insignia

The commissioned officer ranks of the USAF are divided into three sections: company grade, field grade, and general officers. Company grade officers are those officers in pay grades O-1 to O-3, while field grade officers are those in pay grades O-4 to O-6, and general officers are those in pay grades of O-7 and above.
Currently, promotion from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant is virtually guaranteed after two years of satisfactory service. The promotion from First Lieutenant to Captain is competitive after successfully completing another two years of service. Promotion to Major and above is through a board process. An officer's record is reviewed by a selection board at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. This process occurs approximately between the seven- and ten-year mark, where a certain percentage of Captains will be selected for Major. This process will repeat at the 11-14 year mark for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, and then around the eighteen-year mark for promotion to Colonel.

arrant officers

Although provision is made in regulations for them, the USAF does not use Warrant Officer grades (the only US service to not do so). The USAF inherited warrant officer ranks from the Army at its inception in 1947, but their place in the Air Force structure was never made clear. When Congress authorized the creation of two new senior enlisted ranks in 1958, Air Force officials privately concluded that these two new "super grades" could fill all Air Force needs then performed at the warrant officer level, although this was not publicly acknowledged until years later. The Air Force stopped appointing warrant officers in 1959,^[41] the same year the first promotions were made to the new top enlisted grade, Chief Master Sergeant. Most of the existing Air Force warrant officers entered the commissioned officer ranks during the 1960s, but tiny numbers continued to exist for the next 21 years.
The last active duty Air Force warrant officer, CWO4 James H. Long, retired in 1980 and the last Air Force Reserve warrant officer, CWO4 Bob Barrow, retired in 1992.^[42] Upon his retirement, he was honorarily promoted to CWO5, the only person in the Air Force ever to hold this grade.^[41] Barrow died in April 2008.^[43] Since Barrow's retirement, the Air Force warrant officer ranks, while still authorized by law, are not used.

Enlisted airmen

ain article: United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia
Enlisted members of the USAF have pay grades from E-1 (entry level) to E-9 (senior enlisted). While all USAF military personnel are referred to as Airmen, the term also refers to the pay grades of E-1 through E-4, which are below the level of non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Above the pay grade of E-4 (i.e., pay grades E-5 through E-9) all ranks fall into the category of NCO and are further subdivided into NCOs (pay grades E-5 and E-6) and Senior NCOs (pay grades E-7 through E-9); the term Junior NCO is sometimes used to refer to staff sergeants and technical sergeants (pay grades E-5 and E-6).^[44]
The USAF is the only of the five branches of the United States military where NCO status is not achieved until an airman reaches the pay grade of E-5. In all other branches, NCO status is generally achieved at the pay grade of E-4 (e.g., a Corporal in the Army and Marine Corps, Petty Officer Third Class in the Navy and Coast Guard). However, E-4s in the Army with the rank of Specialist are not considered NCOs. The Air Force mirrored the Army from 1976 to 1991 with an E-4 being either a Senior Airman wearing three stripes without a star or a Sergeant (referred to as "Buck Sergeant"), which was noted by the presence of the central star and considered an NCO. Despite not being an NCO, a Senior Airman who has completed Airman Leadership School can be a supervisor.

Highlights of the 2005 Edwards AFB Airshow

One of the premier airshows in the world is held at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave desert about an hour north-east of Los Angeles.   It's a show like no other, held at America's most historic aviation test facility, adjacent to Roger's dry lake bed which is used as an emergency landing area during flight tests, and for occasional visits by the Space Shuttle returning from orbit. This is the only show anywhere in the world where you'll hear military aircraft break the sound barrier (twice in one day at the 2005 show, once by an F-16 fighter and later by a B-1 bomber). Even the static displays at Edwards are unique, with air force test equipment, NASA aircraft from the Dryden Flight Research Center on the grounds of the base, and other goodies, like this marine corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, the very aircraft which evacuated the American ambassador from the embassy in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war, repainted in the field green color scheme used at that time.

The air force's Heritage Flight program commemorates equipment used to defend America in bygone days by putting them in formation with modern equipment, in this case a world war two P-51D Mustang with an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

This wasn't the only Mustang flying at the show, nor was it only historic equipment on display. Here's a piece of living history, Chuck Yeager taxying a P-51D Mustang after landing. It's especially appropriate that Yeager flew at this show, since Edwards is where he piloted the rocket powered Bell X-1 research plane to become the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound. It's extraordinary to think that he's still flying today.

This is the first time I've seen the full Commemorative Air Force "Tora, Tora, Tora" display team do their re-enactment of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which brought America into world war two. It was an impressive sight, with the replica "Zero" fighters at the bottom flying in tight unison with two replica "Kate" torpedo bombers and fixed undercarriage "Val" dive bombers. Combine all of these with a 10 or 15 minute pyrotechnic display of fireballs and black smoke and you've got quite a routine! As an interesting footnote, the Japanese phrase "Tora, Tora, Tora" broadcast after the first wave of attacks on Pearl Harbor means exactly the same as the English phrase "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger" which was broadcast after the CH-46 on static display had evacuated the American ambassador in Saigon.

Moving a few years ahead in time, there was a Korean War display by the Planes of Fame Air Museum F-86 Sabre, a type which made its first flight in this very location on October 1st, 1947. A long and dazzling list of aircraft made their first flights here, largely because of the huge dry lake bed which has been called "God's gift to the US Air Force".

But here's an aircraft whose first flight definitely wasn't here, a Russian-designed MiG-15 jet fighter, whose NATO reporting name was "Fagot".   The MiG-15 was the F-86's adversary in Korea, however despite being very durable and having a 37mm cannon and two 23mm cannons compared to the Sabre's less deadly machine guns, the F-86 still manage a roughly nine-to-one kill ratio against the MiG-15.

Another leap in time brings us forward to the Vietnam war and America's premier fighter of the era, an F-4D Phantom II owned by the Collings Foundation and flown at Edwards by Frank Romaglia, who has over 5000 hours flying this type, much of it in Vietnam.   This is the only privately owned Phantom in the world, and it's a great thing that the air force is willing to have it along to a show, when they could just as easily have brought along one of their own slightly less authentic QF-4 Phantom drones to the show.   Although one of the drones is painted up in much the same color scheme as the Collings bird, it's still not quite the same as having an unmodified aircraft of this type.  You can also see an air-to-air photoshoot I did a few weeks earlier with the Collings F-4.

And now to the present day, a T-6A Texan II trainer. As well as doing this marvellous low-level display, the Texan II also flew one of an ongoing series of "Historic Flight" formations with its distant predecessor and namesake, the world war two T-6 Texan, which was used to train many thousands of pilots both during that conflict and afterwards. Unfortunately, the runway is an awfully long way from the spectator area, so sights like this are restricted to accredited media types or people who browse the magazines or websites of accredited media types! Spectators do, however, get an excellent view of most of these aircraft taxying at close quarters before and after their displays.

Here's another new aircraft in the air force inventory, but if the Texan II was at low level then this C-17 Globemaster III is nearly over the moon!   It did an excellent display including dropping multiple pallets by parachute, as well as passes with undergear down and even some nice banking.

This KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling tanker is much older than the Globemaster III, in fact it was a parallel development with Boeing's first jet airliner, the Dash 80, also known as the Boeing 707.   Almost all Boeing 707s have been retired, movie star John Travolta flies one of the last ones still operating in the United States, but the KC-135 is still going strong and re-engined examples like this one will continue in service for a lot longer.

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Edwards is an excellent place to see a wide variety of modern American military aircraft flying, and this year there was a special treat, an F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter based at Edwards, but flown by pilot Gert-Jan Vooren of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. His call sign is "Goofy", but his display is anything but Goofy! In fact, the Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 display is widely considered to be the best demonstration by this aircraft type anywhere in the world. It's very loud, very aerobatic, stays very close to the crowd and is greatly enhanced by the use of flares and the "smokewinder" smoke generators you can see in action here. Sadly, the flares weren't on show at Edwards, perhaps out of fear that they might set the desert scrub on fire, but the rest of the display was as superb as ever, and several people said they felt sorry for the US Air Force F-16 pilot who had to follow this act with his own less spectacular routine. I don't have a full presentation of the Dutch display on this website, but there is a computer wallpaper of it doing its full display at the 2002 Royal International Air Tattoo in England.

Here's the USAF's most exciting new aircraft, the F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter. This is a replacement for the ageing F-15 Eagle, which is still considered by most people to be the world's best fighter aircraft. The Raptor has significant advantages over the Eagle, including the ability to "supercruise" at about Mach 1.5 without using its afterburners, and the same type of stealth technology already employed on the F-117 Nighthawk and the B-2 Spirit. You shouldn't be too surprised to hear that both the F-15 and the F-22 made their first flights at Edwards, the F-15 on July 27, 1972 and the YF-22 on September 29, 1990.   Oh, and the B-2 made its maiden flight here on July 17, 1989!

Not only are interesting aircraft types on display at Edwards, but the displays tend to be more interesting than at other shows, perhaps partially because this is the air force's test center and also because there's an awful lot of empty space here, with little danger of damage on the ground in the extremely unlikely event that something goes wrong. As an example, Edwards is probably the only show anywhere where you'll see a pass by a Raptor with all of its weapons bays open. Officially, the Raptor is designated the F/A-22 Raptor to signify that it has abilities both as a fighter and as an attack aircraft able to bomb ground targets. In practice this is a claim forced on the military and its contractors by politicians wanting to make a name for themselves as defenders of the public purse - the Raptor was designed as a pure air-to-air fighter aircraft, and while it is able to carry a small quantity of bombs within these bays, its capacity is far lower than less high performance but more versatile aircraft like the F/A-18 Hornet. To carry more ordnance the Raptor has to use external bomb racks which almost completely obliterate the aircraft's stealthy characteristics, as well as affecting its ability to supercruise.

Like the Stratotanker, the B-52 Stratofortress was designed by Boeing and entered service in the mid 1950s, and like the Stratotanker it has a surprisingly bright future.   Continually updated since they were first introduced, these two dinosaurs are expected to remain in service for several more decades.

Although the B-52 frequently appears at airshows as a static exhibit, it's not too often that members of the public get to see a full display, taking off, doing multiple passes and landing at the same place. Not only did this demonstration include separate passes with landing gear down and bomb bays open, but after one pass they also did this rapid climb out, which I've never seen before. It certainly gives a different perspective on the Stratofortresses massive 185 foot (56.5 meter) wingspan.

The B-1B Lancer looks like it should have made the B-52 totally obsolete, and on paper it certainly looks like a worthy successor, able to carry almost 135,000 pounds (61 tonnes) of ordnance compared to the B-52's 70,000 pounds (32 tonnes), and able to fly at Mach 1.2 against the B-52's top speed of Mach 0.86. The Lancer also has a much lower radar signature and far better electronics.

The B-1 might be far more technologically advanced than the B-52, but it has an even more sophisticated counterpart in the B-2 Spirit, which is popularly called the "stealth bomber".   The B-2 demonstration at Edwards is far better than the one put on at other airshows, so I've put together an entire page about the stealth bomber display at the 2005 Edwards AFB airshow. This crazy looking aircraft was designed to penetrate heavily defended territory which would be too dangerous for the B-1 or B-52, however some critics say that since the collapse of the Soviet Union it no longer has a credible opponent (a charge which is also levelled against the F-22 Raptor).   It has almost exactly the same maximum speed as the B-52, but can only carry 40,000 pounds (18 tonnes) of ordnance compared to the B-52's 70,000 pounds or the B-1's 135,000 pounds.

Completing the lineup of America's front-line aviation weaponry is this F-117 Nighthawk, commonly known as the "stealth fighter".   It would actually be more accurate to say that this is a YF-117A Nighthawk, since this is the third prototype aircraft.   This same aircraft was painted up in this US flag scheme in 1983, but since the Nighthawk was still a top secret project at that time, very few people ever saw it; however because this aircraft was due to be retired straight after this show, it was decided to paint it up again and put it on public display in this scheme for the first time ever. Just to say it again, this is the sort of display that makes the Edwards show so special - it's the only event in the world where you have any hope of seeing an F-117, a B-1, B-2, B-52 and F-22 all put on extended performances in the same place at the same time.

But wait, there's more!   Since many of the aircraft at Edwards are test planes rather than combat aircraft, you'll also see paint schemes which are found nowhere else, like this very graceful T-38 Talon supersonic trainer, which is used as a chase plane to follow aircraft undergoing flight testing. This white scheme isn't one you'll see in too many other places.

Nor is the white-and-orange scheme on this two-seater F-16 Fighting Falcon likely to turn up in too many places!

As I mentioned earlier, NASA also has its Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, so not only can you see interesting NASA color schemes, but you can see some unusual NASA aircraft as well.   Several were on static display, and they also flew one of their F-18 Hornet chase planes (which was itself chased by a NASA T-34 Mentor), as well as some real oddities, like this highly modified F-15 Eagle code named ACTIVE, which not only has large auxiliary canard wings near the front, but also has thrust vectoring engines like on several of the Russian fighter aircraft which displayed at the 2005 MAKS airshow in Moscow. The ACTIVE F-15 also has an "intelligent flight control system" which consists of an adaptive neural network which is intended to allow the aircraft to continue to fly even after it suffers serious damage in flight which would otherwise cause the plane to crash. It has to be said that the F-15 is already able to survive a great deal of damage and keep flying even without a computerized neural network - an Israeli air force F-15 had a mid-air collision with an Israeli A-4 Skyhawk, but the pilot was able to bring the Eagle in for a safe landing even though it had lost nearly its entire right wing!

Here's another interesting and unusual NASA aircraft, an ER-2 high-altitude research plane, which was derived from the U-2 spy plane.   This shot of it taxying towards the crowd area after performing its demonstration shows off its glider-like wingspan of over 103 feet (33 meters). The aircraft has a bicycle landing gear with two sets of wheels mounted fore and aft under the fuselage, so before liftoff and after landing a support truck trails it, to retrieve and later refit the flimsy "pogo stick" landing gears which you can see about half-way along each wing. These wheels fall off automatically at takeoff, but are put back on after the pilot slows the plane to a crawl and allows one wing to dip towards the runway. All of this happened during the show, and I was also lucky enough to see the same thing about 10 years ago when I was still living in New Zealand, where NASA was doing ozone hole research.

Another speciality of the Edwards show is the mass flyby done by many different air force aircraft types. This year the display consisted of a C-12 Huron, B-2 Spirit, KC-135 Stratotanker, MC-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, B-52 Stratofortress, the American flag F-117 Nighthawk, F-16 Fighting Falcon, T-38 Talon, the F-16 Fighting Falcon in the white and orange color scheme which you saw earlier on this page, and the F-22 Raptor.   It's a really spectacular display.

The mass flyby is an awesome sight, but it's very difficult to take a photograph which does it justice - you just have to be there to experience it!

Highlights of the 2005 Nellis AFB "Aviation Nation" Airshow

The theme of this year's show was "Welcoming Home Our Vietnam Veterans" and an excellent collection of Vietnam aircraft was put together, better even than the similarly-theme Selfridge ANGB airshow earlier in the year. Leading the way was a flight of iconic aircraft from the Vietnam conflict, the ubiquitous UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the "Huey". Three Hueys thudded their way past the crowd line each day, including these two in close formation.

The iconic fixed wing aircraft of Vietnam was probably the F-4 Phantom II, which flew with the air force, navy and marines. This particular aircraft is a QF-4 Phantom II drone used as a target for missile testing, nicely painted up by the air force in a South-East Asia color scheme.   The Collings Foundation operates an F-4D Phantom II in Vietnam colors, and I was fortunate enough to do an air-to-air photo shoot of the Collings F-4 earlier this year.

This OV-10 Bronco is far less well known than the Huey or the Phantom.   It was the first American aircraft specifically designed for the forward air controller and observation roles; prior to this time conversions of civilian aircraft like the O-1 Bird Dog and O-2 Skymaster were used in Vietnam. The Bronco was far more capable than either the Bird Dog or Skymaster, with higher speed, better protection for the pilots and greater firepower like the machine guns you can see here sticking out of the sponsons under the fuselage. It's very rare to see one at an airshow, so it was nice to see this aircraft registered just last year by the Cactus Air Force here in Nevada.

The Douglas Skyraider is a much more commonly seen aircraft on the airshow circuit, at least in its navy or marine incarnations. The Skyraider first flew during world war two, but its heavy load capacity and long loiter time made it ideal for later conflicts, and it was used a great deal during the Vietnam war.   Here you see the one-man marine corps AD-4N version, and the seldom seen four-man A-1E used by the air force.

This particular A-1E is one of the mostly nicely restored Skyraiders in operation, the simulated ordnance provides a lot of extra interest, specially during the type of simulated bombing combat mission which was provided at the show by Chris Rainey and the rest of his pyrotechnic crew.

The Cessna aircraft corporation was responsible for the Bird Dog and Skymaster, but they also produced a few aircraft designed especially for the military, like this A-37 Dragonfly.   Developed from the T-37 Tweet trainer, the A-37 performed ground attack work using the six-barrelled GAU-2B mini-gun which you can see extending from the top of the nose.   Like the Skyraider, the Dragonfly can also carry an extraordinary load of munitions under its wings, which is part of the reason why it's still in service with several South American air forces.

You might think that this plane doesn't belong in a Vietnam war remembrance, but in fact this AC-47 gunship, commonly referred to as "Spooky" or "Puff the Magic Dragon", is very familiar to people who know about this conflict. Basically a world war two vintage C-47 Skytrain transport armed with 3 miniguns, these gunships could pour an enormous amount of firepower onto ground targets, usually Viet Cong forces besieging a military base or village.

Because of the theme of this year's show, the pre-Vietnam warbird lineup was emphasized less than in previous years, as was the simulated Reno Air Race which is held each year; nevertheless there was still plenty on offer for aerobatic fans and those interested in military aircraft from other eras.

This B-25 Mitchell bomber was one of the world war two aircraft which flew on the day, together with the P-51 Mustangs "Six Shooter" and "Val Halla".

There was also plenty of entertainment for people who need their fix of modern military aircraft turning and burning, with spirited demonstrations like this one by an F-15 Eagle, as well as a display by its counterpart the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The Eagle put on a great display, including this knife-edge pass while in full afterburner.

The Eagle was very good, but the air force's latest air superiority fighter definitely stole this section of the show. The F-22 Raptor flew at last year's Nellis airshow, but restricted its display to high flat passes and steep climbs far from the crowd area.   It seemed that the air force might be following the policy pioneered by the F-117 Nighthawk "stealth fighter" and B-2 Spirit "stealth bomber", only doing tame routines with these extremely expensive aircraft in order to reduce the risk of bad publicity in the event of an accident.

Thankfully, this year's display at Nellis threw this type of caution to the wind with an excellent display of low takeoff passes, steep afterburner climbs and banked passes also with afterburner. It's the type of performance which ardent aircraft fans hope will get better and better as this extraordinarily capable aircraft settles into regular service.

The airshow community can be thankful that the top brass also allowed the Raptor to participate in the air force's Heritage Flight program, pairing today's top of the line hardware with their equivalents from earlier times, like this world war two P-51 Mustang.

Since this show had a Vietnam theme, it was extremely appropriate that fighters from three generations should be flown together.

There was one other Vietnam era plane which flew at the show, a Russian designed MiG-17 "Fresco" as flown by the North Vietnamese air force.   It's great to see aircraft like this flying, though for purists like myself it's maybe not so good to see them plastered over with capitalist advertising!   Of course the great majority of the audience doesn't care about details like that, and the owner and pilot, Bill Reesman, does an excellent display, as you might expect from someone who flew 320 combat missions in Vietnam flying the F-100 Super Sabre.

Chris Rounds also does a good display in his sponsored T-33 Shooting Star trainer, named The Red Knight after a Royal Canadian Air Force T-33 display aircraft which flew demonstrations for many years in the same colors.

There were no Canadians flying at this show, but the USAF Thunderbirds display team is based at Nellis air force base and always does its end of the year homecoming performance at the show. This year's show included a surprising number of overflights of the crowdline by solo pilots, but the crowd loved the demonstration of what these aircraft can do.

A performance of another kind took place in the late afternoon light - the first ever display at an airshow by the Predator unmanned aerial combat vehicle, complete with pyrotechnics as the Predator did a simulated attack run using the inert hellfire missiles carried under its wings.   In real life the Predator was first used in this way in Afghanistan in 2001 and again in Yemen in 2002.   Nellis is one of the main centers for flying UCAVs, so it was very appropriate that there were several different models on static display.

Before and after the flying there was plenty of time to browse the huge static display of aircraft spread across the show grounds.   This year's display was up to the usual high standard, with highlights including this restored 1930s Dornier Do-24 flying boat complete with modern turbo-prop engines, the historic C-141 Starlifter "Hanoi Taxi" used to evacuate POWs from Hanoi at the end of America's involvement in that war, and an EP-3 AWACS plane.   There was a sad looking MiG-29 "Fulcrum" jet fighter near the entrance, sister ship to the pristine MiG-29 in the Threat Training Facility at Nellis; the folks from the TTF had a variety of hardware on display, including a scud missile.

As always, many of the most interesting aircraft stayed on static display and only flew when arriving and departing. I wasn't there for the main arrival and departure days, but several aircraft did sneak out on Sunday after almost everyone had left, including this great looking Grumman Albatross flying boat, which made its exit as the last of the day's sunlight vanished.

See the highlights of the Nellis AFB "Aviation Nation" Airshow in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009.