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No. 8 Squadron PAF
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No. 8 Squadron PAF
No. 8 Squadron, nicknamed the Haiders, is a tactical attack squadron from the No. 32 TA Wing of the Pakistan Air Force's Southern Air Command. It is currently deployed at Masroor Airbase and operates the JF-17 Block 3 Multi-role fighter.
The No. 8 Squadron was raised in 1960 at the Mauripur Airbase. Being part of the 31st Bomber Wing of PAF, it was quickly equipped with Martin B-57 Canberra bombers which Pakistan received as part of the 1955 Pakistan-US mutual defence treaty. These consisted of 1 B-57C trainer variant & a dozen or so B-57B variants which were bought from the USAF's 345th Bombardment Wing after it was disbanded.
Throughout its service with the PAF, No. 8 Squadron participated in several armament competitions and Military exercises. Later in the 1965 War, the squadron together with the Bandits squadron conducted heavy airstrikes on several Indian Airforce bases. After the war however, the Haider's B-57 fleet had been considerably effected due to crashes and lack of spares & technical support as a result of postwar US Sanctions, hence its B-57s along with other assets (including the pilots) were transferred to the Bandits and the squadron was number plated in 1968 after its Officer Commanding Rais A. Rafi completed the command of the squadron before being deployed to Iraq.
The squadron was raised again in 1983 this time re-equipped with newly inducted Dassault Mirage 5 strike fighters. It became the PAF's first squadron to be assigned the role of Maritime Support, as a result the squadron worked closely with the Pakistan Navy taking part in several naval exercises.
On 27 October 1964, during an air show organized at Peshawar, a formation of four Haider B-57s led by Wing Commander Nazir Latif performed a spectacular Aerobatics demonstration in honour of the visiting Indonesian air chief; Air Marshal Omar Dani. These included the first-ever aerobatic loop with a bomber aircraft along with rolls and wingovers, something which a heavy and bulky aircraft like the B-57 was barely capable of.
During the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, PAF launched an aggressive airstrike campaign throughout India targeting various Indian airbases in retaliation to the Indian invasion. The 31st Bomber Wing was tasked to disable IAF runways at Jamnagar, Adampur & Pathankot.
On the first night of the Lahore invasion, Haider B-57s started a series of bombing raids on Jamnagar which was India's main frontline base in the southern sector. During these night raids, one B-57 along with its pilot (Squadron Leader Shabbir Alam Siddiqui) and Navigator (Squadron Leader Aslam Qureshi) were lost after their plane hit the ground while dive bombing the Jamnagar runway. The crash was officially credited to low visibility & the over-fatigued crew. However prior to their unfortunate crash, the crew had managed to heavily crater the runway which halted further Indian air operations from Jamnagar. It was later revealed that they prevented 8 Hawker Sea Hawk fighters of the Indian navy from taking off the next day which were going to attack the PAF's main Radar at Badin. Rear Admiral (Retd) Satyendra Singh Jamwal of the Indian Navy in his book "Blueprint to Bluewater" states:
Had the eight Seahawk aircraft at Jamnagar been allowed to bomb the ‘seeing eye’ of PAF and its air defence establishment at Badin (…) on the morning of Sept 7 as had been scheduled, the war would have been over much earlier and (Indian) aircraft losses would have been minimised.
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No. 8 Squadron PAF
No. 8 Squadron, nicknamed the Haiders, is a tactical attack squadron from the No. 32 TA Wing of the Pakistan Air Force's Southern Air Command. It is currently deployed at Masroor Airbase and operates the JF-17 Block 3 Multi-role fighter.
The No. 8 Squadron was raised in 1960 at the Mauripur Airbase. Being part of the 31st Bomber Wing of PAF, it was quickly equipped with Martin B-57 Canberra bombers which Pakistan received as part of the 1955 Pakistan-US mutual defence treaty. These consisted of 1 B-57C trainer variant & a dozen or so B-57B variants which were bought from the USAF's 345th Bombardment Wing after it was disbanded.
Throughout its service with the PAF, No. 8 Squadron participated in several armament competitions and Military exercises. Later in the 1965 War, the squadron together with the Bandits squadron conducted heavy airstrikes on several Indian Airforce bases. After the war however, the Haider's B-57 fleet had been considerably effected due to crashes and lack of spares & technical support as a result of postwar US Sanctions, hence its B-57s along with other assets (including the pilots) were transferred to the Bandits and the squadron was number plated in 1968 after its Officer Commanding Rais A. Rafi completed the command of the squadron before being deployed to Iraq.
The squadron was raised again in 1983 this time re-equipped with newly inducted Dassault Mirage 5 strike fighters. It became the PAF's first squadron to be assigned the role of Maritime Support, as a result the squadron worked closely with the Pakistan Navy taking part in several naval exercises.
On 27 October 1964, during an air show organized at Peshawar, a formation of four Haider B-57s led by Wing Commander Nazir Latif performed a spectacular Aerobatics demonstration in honour of the visiting Indonesian air chief; Air Marshal Omar Dani. These included the first-ever aerobatic loop with a bomber aircraft along with rolls and wingovers, something which a heavy and bulky aircraft like the B-57 was barely capable of.
During the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, PAF launched an aggressive airstrike campaign throughout India targeting various Indian airbases in retaliation to the Indian invasion. The 31st Bomber Wing was tasked to disable IAF runways at Jamnagar, Adampur & Pathankot.
On the first night of the Lahore invasion, Haider B-57s started a series of bombing raids on Jamnagar which was India's main frontline base in the southern sector. During these night raids, one B-57 along with its pilot (Squadron Leader Shabbir Alam Siddiqui) and Navigator (Squadron Leader Aslam Qureshi) were lost after their plane hit the ground while dive bombing the Jamnagar runway. The crash was officially credited to low visibility & the over-fatigued crew. However prior to their unfortunate crash, the crew had managed to heavily crater the runway which halted further Indian air operations from Jamnagar. It was later revealed that they prevented 8 Hawker Sea Hawk fighters of the Indian navy from taking off the next day which were going to attack the PAF's main Radar at Badin. Rear Admiral (Retd) Satyendra Singh Jamwal of the Indian Navy in his book "Blueprint to Bluewater" states:
Had the eight Seahawk aircraft at Jamnagar been allowed to bomb the ‘seeing eye’ of PAF and its air defence establishment at Badin (…) on the morning of Sept 7 as had been scheduled, the war would have been over much earlier and (Indian) aircraft losses would have been minimised.