List of aerial victories during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965
The Indo-Pakistani air war of 1965 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred after the failure of Operation Gibraltar in Jammu and Kashmir on 1 September 1965. Pakistan Air Force under Operation Grand Slam and Indian Airforce under Operation Riddle engaged with each other with the last aerial combat taking place on 23 September 1965.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/1965_War%2C_Syed_Masood_Akhtar_Hussaini.jpg/220px-1965_War%2C_Syed_Masood_Akhtar_Hussaini.jpg)
The sides claimed various numbers of kills and casualties. India claims to have lost 35–59 aircraft[2][3] while Pakistan claims to have destroyed 110–113;[4][5] neutral sources claim that India lost 60–75 aircraft.[6] Pakistan claims to have lost 19 aircraft[4] while India claims 43–73 kills;[2][7][5] neutral sources say Pakistan lost 20 aircraft.[6]
Aerial victories
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The following lists contains aerial victories credited to both Indian as well as Pakistani pilots.[8][9][10][11]
Pilot | Country | Date | Fighter Type | Victim Pilot | Victim Aircraft | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui | Pakistan | 1st Sep | F-86 | Flight Lieutenant (later Group Captain) Shrikrishna Vishnu Phatak (wingman) | de Havilland Vampire | Phatak bailed out,[12] Rafiqui awarded Sitara-e-Jurat[13][14] |
Sqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui | Pakistan | 1st Sep | F-86 | Squadron Leader Aspi Kekobad Bhagwagar (flight leader), | de Havilland Vampire | Bhagwagar KIA[15] |
Flt Lt later Air Cmdr Imtiaz Bhatti | Pakistan | 1st Sep | F-86 | Flight Lieutenant Satish Bharadwaj (element wingman) | de Havilland Vampire | Bharadwaj KIA[16][17] |
Flt Lt later Air Cmdr Imtiaz Bhatti | Pakistan | 1st Sep | F-86 | Flight Lieutenant Vijay Madhav Joshi (element leader) | de Havilland Vampire | Joshi KIA[18] Bhatti awarded Sitara-e-Jurat[19] |
Sqn Ldr later Wng CmdrTrevor Keelor | India | 3rd Sep | Folland Gnat | Flt Lt later Air Cmdr Yousuf Ali Khan | F-86 | Trevor awarded 1st Vir Chakra of war. Khan awarded Sitara-e-Jurat for surviving the dogfight against six Gnats and nursing the damaged Sabre back home.[20][21] |
Flt Lt later Grp Capt Virendera Singh Pathania | India | 4th Sep | Folland Gnat | Flt Lt N.M Butt | F-86 | Butt bailed out, Pathania awarded the Vir Chakra.[22][23] |
Flt Lt later Air Chief Marshall Hakimullah Khan Durrani | Pakistan | 4th Sep Pasrur | Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | Sqn Ldr later Air Marshal Brij Pal Singh Sikand | Folland Gnat | Starfighter forced the Gnat to land mistakenly at an abandoned airstrip. Durrani awarded Tamgha-e-Diffa and Sitara-e-Basalat[24] |
Sqn Ldr later Air Cmdr Muhammad Mahmood Alam | India | 6th Sep | F-86 | Sqn Ldr Peter Rawley | Hawker Hunter | Aborted Halwara base attack at Taran Taran, Rawley misjudged his turn at low levels during the engagement and went into the ground, KIA. Alam claimed the kill.[25] |
Flg Offr later Air Marshal Adi Rustomji Ghandhi | India | 6th Sep | Hawker Hunter | Sqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui | F-86 | Vir Chakra awarded to Ghandhi for hitting Rafiqui and another plane.[25] |
Flt Lt Yunus Hussain | Pakistan | 6th Sep | F86 | Fg Offr later Air Marshal Adi Rustomji Ghandhi | Hawker Hunter | Ghandhi bailed out, Yunus's kill disputed by Cecil Chaudhry[26][27][a] |
Sqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui | India | 6th Sep | F-86 | Flg Offr later Air Marshal Prakash Sadashivrao Pingale | Hawker Hunter | Pingale bailed out[25] |
Flt Off later Wng Cmdr Vinod Neb | India | 6th Sep | Hawker Hunter | Flt Lt Yunus Hussain | F-86 | Yunus posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, Neb awarded Vir Chakra[25] |
Flight Lieutenant later Air Marshal Dev Nath Rathore | India | 6th Sep | Hawker Hunter | Sqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui | F-86 | Rafiqui posthumously awarded Hilal-e-Jurat, Rathore awarded Vir Chakra.[25] |
Sqn Ldr Ajjamada B. Devaiah | India | 7th Sep | de Havilland Vampire | Flt Lt later Air Vice Marshal Amjad Hussain | Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | Both planes crashed, Devaiah KIA awarded Mahavir Chakra 23 years after war.[28] |
Sqn Ldr later Air Cmdr Muhammad Mahmood Alam | Pakistan | 7th Sep | F-86 | Flt Lt later Wng Cmdr ‘Piloo’ Kacker | Dassault Mystère IV | Kill disputed, crashed due to ack, ack fuel loss, Kacker became POW |
Flt Lt Anwar-ul-Haq Malik | Pakistan | 7th Sep | F-86 AAMs | Flt Lt U.Babul Guha | Dassault Mystère IV | KIA[29][30] |
Sqn Ldr later Air Cmdr Muhammad Mahmood Alam | Pakistan | 7th Sep | F-86 | Sqn Ldr S C Bhagwat | Hawker Hunter | KIA[31][30] Alam conferred Sitara-e-Jurat,Tamgha-e-Diffa, Sitara-e-Imtiaz |
Sqn Ldr later Air Cmdr Muhammad Mahmood Alam | Pakistan | 7th Sep | F-86 | Fg Offr Jagdev Singh Brar | Hawker Hunter | Brar KIA[32][30] |
Flt LtAlfred Tyrone Cooke No. 14 Squadron IAF | India | 7th Sep Kalaikunda Air Force Station | Hawker Hunter | Flying officer Afzal Khan No. 14 Squadron PAF | F-86 | Khan KIA, Cooke awarded Vir Chakra[33] |
Fg Offr later Wing Commander Subodh Chandra Mamgain No. 14 Squadron IAF | India | 7th Sep Kalaikunda Air Force Station | Hawker Hunter | Flight Lieutenant Tariq Habib (Leader) No. 14 Squadron PAF | F-86 | Mamgain awarded Vir Chakra for one hit and one unconfirmed kill.[34][35] |
Flt Lt later Air Cmdr Yousuf Ali Khan | Pakistan | 13th Sep | F-86 | Flt Lt later Wg Cmdr Arvind Kale | Folland Gnat | Kale bailed out.[36][37] |
Flt Lt later Air Cmdr Imtiaz Bhatti | Pakistan | 13th Sep PAF Base Sargodha | F-86 | Sqn Ldr N K Malik | Folland Gnat | Pilot nursed Gnat back to India but died next day, Bhatti awarded with hit[38][39][40] |
Sqn Ldr later Grp Capt Bharat Singh | India | 14th Sep Khem Karan Sector | Folland Gnat | Unknown | F-86 | Indian Army confirmed wreckage and Singh awarded Vir Chakra, PAF pilot nursed hit plane safely to ground.[41] |
Sqn Ldr later Air Cmdr Muhammad Mahmood Alam | Pakistan | 16th Sep | F-86 | Flg Offr Farokh Dara Bunsha | Hawker Hunter | Bunsha KIA[42] |
Flt Lt later Wng CmdrAmarjit Singh Sandhu | India | 18th Sep Pathankot Air Force Station | Folland Gnat | Syed Saad Akhtar Hatmi | F-86 | Sandhu awarded Vir Chakra[43] Hatmi awarded Sitara-e-Jurat |
Flight Lieutenant later Grp Capt Saiful Azam Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) | Pakistan | 19th Sep | F-86 | Flight Lieutenant later Wg Cdr Maya Dev | Folland Gnat | Dev bailed out and became POW,[44] Azam awarded Sitara-e-Jurat[45][46] |
Flt Lt later Air Marshal Denzil Keelor | India | 19th Sep Tezpur Air Force Station | Folland Gnat | Wng Cmdr Syed Mohammad Ahmed | F-86 | Ahmad bailed out, Keelor awarded Vir Chakra[47] Ahmed awarded Sitara-i-Basalat |
Flt Lt Ajay Kumar Mazumdar | India | 20th Sep Lahore sector | Folland Gnat | Unknown | F-86 | PAF pilot bailed out. Mazumdar awarded Vir Chakra[48] |
Squadron Leader later Air Chief Marshal Sharbat Ali Changezi | Pakistan | 20th Sep Lahore | F-86 | Squadron Leader S K Sharma | Hawker Hunter | Sharma bailed out[49] Changezi awarded Sitara-e-Jurat |
Flight Lieutenant Syed Nazir Ahmed Jilani | Pakistan | 20th Sep Lahore sector | F-86 | Squadron Leader Deba Prasad Chatterjee | Hawker Hunter | Chatterjee KIA[50] Jilani awarded Tamgha-e-Basalat[51] |
Flt Lt later Air Chief Marshal Jamal Ahmad Khan Afridi | Pakistan | 21st Sep | Lockheed F-104 Starfighter Sidewinder AIM-9B | Flt Lt Manmohan Lowe
Fg Offr Kewal Krishan Kapur |
English Electric Canberra | Lowe bailed out,[52] Kapur KIA,[53] Afridi awarded Sitara-e-Jurat |
Indian Aircraft | Country of Origin |
---|---|
Aérospatiale Alouette III | ![]() |
Bréguet Br.1050 Alizé | ![]() |
Dassault Mystère IV | ![]() |
de Havilland Vampire | ![]() |
English Electric Canberra | ![]() |
Folland Gnat | ![]() |
Hawker Hunter | ![]() |
HAL HF-24 Marut | ![]() |
HAL Krishak | ![]() |
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21FL | ![]() |
Sukhoi Su-7BMK | ![]() |
Pakistan Aircraft | Country of Origin |
---|---|
Canadair Sabre | ![]() |
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog | ![]() |
Dassault Mirage III | ![]() |
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | ![]() |
North American F-86 Sabre | ![]() |
Shenyang F6C | ![]() |
Notes
- ^ The specified timestamps for reference are 16:25-18:10, 20:26-21:07, and 29:00-31:17 in the podcast.
References
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