page_title: History of the Pakistan Air Force
section_title: Exercises
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Pakistan Air Force / 2001–2011: War on Terror and 'new dawn' / Exercises
caption_attribution_description: English: Multinational Exercise Emirati F-16's, an Emirati Mirage 2000, and a Pakistani F-7, left to right, fly in formation during a multinational exercise, Dec. 9, 2009. Aircrews from France, Jordan, Pakistan, the U.A.E., the U.K., and the U.S. trained together in the Air Forces Central area of responsibility in fighting a large-scale air war. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller) (Released)
context_page_description: The history of the Pakistan Air Force began when it was established in 1947 following the independence of Pakistan.
context_section_description: In September 2004 a PAF contingent of six F-16A/B arrived in Turkey to take part in the international Anatolian Eagle 2004 exercise. As well as the Turkish Air Force, the air forces of Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States also participated.
  After around a year of planning, in 2005 the PAF launched the High Mark 2005 exercise which lasted for one month and also involved the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy. In the scenario, two opposing forces, Blueland and Foxland, engaged in simulated combat involving both offensive and defensive operations. All of the PAF's resources, including aircraft, avionics, weapons systems and ground-based radars were involved. It was stated that the exercise would have three stages and PAF aircraft would fly 8200 sorties. The exercise would take place right across Pakistan, from the northern areas of Skardu and Gilgit to the central and southern areas including the Arabian Sea. The exercise was designed to validate the PAF's operational concepts and would be used to further improve the PAF's training regimes and future force employment concepts. The PAF's F-16 fighters would fly in offensive and defensive air superiority roles, with F-7P/PG providing air defence. The Mirage 3/5 was to be used in the strike role and the A-5C would provide air support to the army units involved. Involvement of army and navy units was aimed at providing more realistic operational scenarios. High Mark 2005 followed the Tempest-1 exercise which was focused purely on air power but differed in terms of duration, intensity and complexity of air operations.
  A PAF contingent of six F-16A/B fighters was sent to the international Anatolian Eagle 2006 exercise, which also involved the U.S. and Israeli as well as the Turkish air forces. Operation Indus Viper 2008, a joint exercise involving PAF and the Turkish Air Force, began on 21 April 2008 at PAF Base Mushaf (Sargodha) and was scheduled to last 10 days. Five Turkish F-16C/D fighters and 50 personnel of 191 Kobras Filo (191 Cobras Squadron) attended.
  In the summer of 2005 a PAF team of 20 airmen, including pilots, navigators, engineers, maintenance technicians and a C-130E was sent to the U.S. to take part in the AMC (Air Mobility Command) Rodeo. The team, led by Wing Commander Akbar Shoaib, was expected to score well in the paratrooping, spot landing and short-field landing events. The PAF later took part in the July 2007 AMC Rodeo.
  In 2009, while undertaking combat operations against militants in FATA and Swat, the PAF initiated the Saffron Bandit exercise with the aim of training the PAF's entire combat force to undertake such anti-terrorist operations.
  In December 2009 the PAF sent six Chengdu F-7PG fighters, of No. 31 Wing based at PAF Base Samungli, to the United Arab Emirates to take part in the Air Tactics Leadership Course (ATLC) at Al Dhafra Air Base. Al Dhafra Air Base hosts Dassault Mirage 2000-9 and F-16E/F Block 60 fighters of the UAEAF. Also participating were six F-16s of the Jordanian No. 1 Squadron, six Dassault Rafales of the AdlA, six Eurofighter Typhoons of the Royal Air Force No. 3 Squadron and six F-16CJ Block 52 fighters of the USAF 169th Fighter Wing. Six F-22A fighters of the USAF 1st Fighter Wing also flew training sorties with some of the air forces at Al Dhafra but did not take part in the main exercise. The U.S. units called the exercise Operation Iron Falcon. Most of the participants took turns flying as Red Air and were described by a USAF F-16 pilot as being "very competent" and posing "significant tactical problems to solve."
  The PAF's High Mark 2010 exercise was launched on 15 March 2010, the first time a High Mark exercise had been conducted since 2005, after all PAF received their Air Tasking Orders (ATO). The country-wide exercise involved units based all over Pakistan, from Skardu to the Arabian Sea, at all Main Operating Bases and Forward Operating Bases. Joint operations involving the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy were also conducted, aiming to test and improve integration and cooperation between the three arms. O
caption: A PAF F-7PG flies alongside a Mirage 2000-9 and F-16E/F Block 60 fighters of the UAEAF during ATLC 2009.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Emirati F-16's, an Emirati Mirage 2000, and a Pakistani F-7, left to right, fly in formation during a multinational exercise, Dec. 9, 2009.  Aircrews from France, Jordan, Pakistan, the U.A.E., the U.K., and the U.S. trained together in the Air Forces Central area of responsibility in fighting a large-scale air war.  (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller) (Released)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:12:18 11:52:52", "Image Artist": "Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller", "Image WhitePoint": "[313/1000, 329/1000]", "Image PrimaryChromaticities": "[16/25, 33/100, 21/100, 71/100, 3/20, 3/50]", "Image YCbCrCoefficients": "[299/1000, 587/1000, 57/500]", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "868", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1532", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1646", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3813", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/4000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:12:09 11:02:15", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:12:09 11:02:15", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "95", "EXIF SubSecTime": "08", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "08", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "08", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3874", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2578", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R03", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1500", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "95", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Gamma": "11/5"}