PAF Mirages vs VKS Mi-24s encounter
Parachinar, 14th May 1986.
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Pair of Mirage VPA2s from No 18 TA Squadron #SharpShooters took from Kamra at 1100 hrs to mount CAP, SE of Parachinar at 15,000 ft. Leader was S/L Rao Qamar Suleiman (later CAS) and wingman was F/L Nawaz. 1/n
Controller, S/L Saif ur Rahman informed them about slow tracks heading towards Border.
After one abortive attempt, both Mirages descended to 3000 ft at 500 kts and picked tally with 6× VKS Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters attacking civilian population, at 3-4 NM range. Helos... 2/n
.. climbed to 7000 ft. Leader decided to engage first helo and asked to No 2 to attack last. He put sight on bandit and got immediate Cyrano IV's lock on, however, he didn't get missile lock on (AIM-9P) tone. At 1400 metres range, he switched to DEFA 30 mm cannons and..... 3/n
... pressed trigger, bad luck didn't end when guns refused ti fire. He broke off and invited No. 2 to take a shot. Nawaz fired at range of 8000 ft but met same fate as that of leader. He also broke off and formation landed back safely. (Cont) 4/n
Post landing inspection revealed that gun circuit breaker of leader's Mirage had popped up, because of short circuiting in gun pack. No. 2, while switching to hot (armed), had not removed trigger latch.
Thus a golden opportunity to score kills was lost due to... 5/n
... bad luck on part of leader and lack of experience on part of No. 2.
*Info culled from Story of the Pakistan Air Force, 1988-1998
📸 Mentioned on all
6/n
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