Mirage III / V of Pakistan Air Force

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PAF Mirage IIIRP Photo Strike at Pathankot Air Force Station​

PAF Mirage IIIRP Photo Strike at Pathankot Air Force Station​

Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:02 pm
Painting of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Mirage IIIRP (serial# 67-207) visiting Pathankot Air Force Station in India on December 4, 1971. Mirage IIIRP is reconnaissance variant of Mirage III in PAF inventory. The nose section of Mirage IIIRP houses cameras for reconnaissance missions.

DECEMBER 2010
Photo Strike at Pathankot
1445 Hours, December 4, 1971

Painting by Group Captain (R) Hussaini

The 1971 India-Pakistan War in the West began on December 3, 1971 and Pathankot airfield, located at the junction of Punjab and Kashmir, became the lynch-pin for all crucial land and air operations. It was bombed and pinned down by the PAF Mirage aircraft during the day and by the B-57s at night. The painting shows Pathankot airfield camouflaged with nets and camouflage paint, due to which the details merged with surrounding terrain and were difficult to spot from the usual distance by an attacking pilot. Here Squadron Leader Farooq Umar is maneuvering and aligning his Mirage fighter recce aircraft to photograph this heavily defended IAF airfield after an earlier air strike by the PAF. Visible at the beginning of the runway. Clearly visible on the parallel taxi tracks are three grey patches indicating the points at which the taxi track has been freshly repaired, after PAF strikes of the previous day.

Recently added pre-delivery photo of the same PAF Mirage IIIRP (serial# 67-201) and got it signed by its 1971 Pathankot photo strike mission pilot now Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Farooq Umar.

Photo of the pilot taken during 1971 war - PAF Mirage III pilot Squadron Leader Farooq Umar interviewed by a TV crew at an air base in West Pakistan during 1971 Pak-India war.

Photo of Pathankot Air Force Station of India taken by a PAF aircraft during war.

 

[Fatman17]

Project ROSE ("Retrofit of Strike Element"[1]) was a program by the Pakistan Air Force to upgrade the avionics of its ageing Dassault Mirage III and Mirage 5 fighter jets,.[2] These had originally been built either by Dassault Aviation in France, or by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) in Australia. The program, based at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, focused on upgrading the military avionics and onboard computer systems, with equipment supplied variously by Pakistani Margella Electronics, French SAGEM and Italian SELEX consortia.[3]


Three-view of the Mirage IIIE
Conceived in 1992 by the Pakistan Air Force, the program started in 1995 on main considerations of retiring the A-5 Fantan from active service.[1] The Pakistan Air Force, which was already operating Dassault Mirage IIIs and Mirage 5s, began its procurement of second-hand Mirage fighters from Australia, Lebanon, Libya, and Spain at the price range within the MoD's financial capacities.[4] Over 90% of the aircraft were retrofitted at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra with the remaining being upgraded in France.[4] Between 1996 and 2000, several Mirage IIIs and Mirage 5s were bought from other countries and were upgraded under this program at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.[4]

The upgrade package included the installation of a Grifo radar with a detection range of about 75 km, In-flight refuelling probes along with a comprehensive overhaul of the airframes to increase their service life. After the ROSE-III upgrade, locally manufactured weapons like the H-2 and H-4 SOW, the Takbir glide bomb, and stealth nuclear cruise missiles such as the Ra'ad Mk-1 and Ra'ad Mk-2 were integrated with the weapons suite of the aircraft. Further considerations for upgrades were recommended but the program was terminated due to the increasing cost of spare parts and the condition of the second-hand airframes at the time of their procurement.[4]

It is currently expected for the upgraded fighter jets to remain in service with the Pakistan Air Force beyond 2020 in specialized tactical attack roles. They are expected to be replaced by either the JF–17 Thunder (Block 3, Block 4 and Block 5), additional F-16s, or the 5th generation stealth fighter in development under Project Azm; but there are no publicly confirmed timelines or details about any of these programs.[1][5]

 

[Fatman17]

The Pakistan Air Force operates a large fleet of Mirage 3 and 5 aircraft. It is a mixture of freshly produced aircraft and second hand examples from France, Australia, Lebanon and Libya. Around 50 Mirage 3OAs and Mirage 3ODs were bought during the late eighties and are serving the Air Force from Masroor. This one, 90-533, was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force on 22 February 1966 and operated there as A3-33.

Rogier Westerhuis

 

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