Operation Sindoor: All about Pakistan Air Force assets that India hit

• Close to Pak Army HQ, n-command

Home to the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF’s) Air Mobility Command and the PAF College Chaklala, this is one of Pakistan’s most vital air bases, which plays a key role in logistics, VIP transport, strategic operations, and aviator training.

Chaklala Airfield (Nur Khan)

The base houses PAF transport aircraft such as Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Ilyushin Il-78 refuellers, and trainers such as Karakoram-8. With the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters and the Strategic Plans Division — the operational arm of the country’s nuclear command — in the vicinity, the base lies at the heart of the Pakistani military establishment.

PAF Base Chaklala was renamed PAF Base Nur Khan in 2012, in honour of Air Marshal Nur Khan, the base’s first Pakistani commander in 1947 who went on to lead the Pakistan Air Force from 1965 to 1969.

PAF Base Murid, Chakwal

• Home base for Pakistan’s drone fleet

The Murid base is the home base of Pakistan’s growing fleet of combat drones, and one of the PAF’s most important forward operational flying bases today.

Its more than eight hangars house unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as the indigenously developed GIDS Shahpar and NESCOM Burraq, the Chinese Chengdu Wing Loong II, and the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and

PAF Base Sukkur, Sukkur

• Doubles as a civilian airport, important for northern Sindh

This is another forward operational base of the PAF which doubles as the Begum Nusrat Bhutto International Airport Sukkur, the second major civilian airport operational in Sindh after Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.

Originally built as a military aerodrome during World War II, the Sukkur base operates under PAF’s Southern Air Command

PAF Base Rahim Yar Khan, Rahim Yar Khan

• Runway knocked out by Indian strike, base shut for repairs
  

The Rahim Yar Khan base is a forward operational base of the PAF’s Central Command. Its sole runway is also used by the Sheikh Zayed International Airport, named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first President of the UAE, who funded the construction of the airport’s terminal. Day-to-day operations at the airport are handled by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

After India’s strike at the air base, which has left a massive crater on its runway, all flight operations have been suspended for a week.

PAF Base Mushaf, Sargodha

• Most strategic PAF base, home to best fighters, pilots

Considered to be the most vital strategic asset of the PAF, the Sargodha base is home to Pakistan’s best fighter aircraft and pilots, as well as the headquarters of the Central Air Command, the Combat Commanders’ School, and the Airpower Centre of Excellence.

Aircraft such as the American F-16 Fighting Falcon, Chinese Chengdu J-7, French Mirage 5, and the JF-17 Thunder, the mainstay of PAF’s fighter fleet developed jointly with China, are stationed at the base.

The Sargodha base was a prime target of Indian air attacks during the 1965 war, during which India destroyed 10 Pakistani aircraft at the base. After this, the PAF reserved much of its fighter fleet to protect Sargodha rather than sending them to the front.

The base was renamed in 2003 in honour of Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir who had died in an aircraft crash earlier that year.

PAF Base Shahbaz, Jacobabad

• Crucial NATO base during War on Terror, important for Pak’s F-16s
  

Heavily used by NATO forces during Operation Enduring Freedom, the official moniker of the US-led Global War on Terrorism, the Jacobabad base is home to some of PAF’s most advanced aircraft and equipment.

These include the latest JF-17 Block II, multiple variants of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the Italian Leonardo AW139 helicopters of the 88 Search and Rescue Squadron.

According to local media reports, the base also houses private contractors who work on the American F-16s.

PAF Base Rafiqui, Shorkot

• Base for JF-17 and Mirage 5 fighters

Located 337 km to the south of Islamabad, this base is a vital asset of PAF’s Northern Air Command. It is home to squadrons of JF-17, Mirage 5, and the French utility helicopter Alouette III.

The base is named in honour of Sq Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui, one of Pakistan’s most decorated fighter pilots, famous for his exploits during the war of 1965.

PAF Base Bholari, Jamshoro

• Newest Pak’s air base, where Pak & China held major aerial excercise in 2020

Inaugurated as recently as December 2017, this is one of Pakistan’s most modern main operational bases. It is home to squadrons of both the JF-17 Thunder and F-16 Fighting Falcon, as well as Saab 2000 AEWACs (airborne early warning and control aircraft) aircraft fitted with the Erieye radar system.

In 2020, the base hosted Exercise Shaheen IX, a major joint Pakistani-Chinese aerial exercise

Radar sites and air defence units

• Pasrur, Sialkot district, Punjab
• Sialkot, Punjab
• Chunian, Kasur district, Punjab
• Lahore, Punjab
• Malir Cantt, Karachi, Sindh

India also struck at least three radar sites in Pakistan’s Punjab province, close to the border with the Indian state of Punjab and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as two air defence units — one in Lahore and the other in Malir Cantonment, Karachi.

These were all likely a part of Pakistan’s larger air defence system.