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 1st 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 23rd September 1965.

From the gallery of 350 paintings by Rtd Grp Capt Syed Masood Akhtar Hussaini, Tamgha-e-Bisalat, Member American Society of Aviation Artists [1]

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]

 
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Flag_of_air_marshal_Pakistan_Air_Force
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 posthumusly 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 posthumusly 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

No. 2 Squadron IAF

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

No. 2 Squadron IAF

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   France
Bréguet Br.1050 Alizé   France
Dassault Mystère IV   France
de Havilland Vampire   United Kingdom
English Electric Canberra   United Kingdom
Folland Gnat   United Kingdom
Hawker Hunter   United Kingdom
HAL HF-24 Marut   India
HAL Krishak   India
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21FL   Soviet Union
Sukhoi Su-7BMK   Soviet Union
Pakistan Aircraft Country of Origin
Canadair Sabre   Canada
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog   USA
Dassault Mirage III   France
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter   USA
North American F-86 Sabre   USA
Shenyang F6C   China

Notes

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  1. ^ 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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