Pakistan Once Shot Down Its Own F-16 Jet: A Costly Mistake Resurfaces Amid Fresh Tensions With India

With escalating army tensions in India and Pakistan amid cross-border drone assaults and retaliatory motion, a little-known ancient episode involving a important PAF gaffe has returned to the scene — person who noticed Pakistan downing its personal F-16 fighter airplane inadvertently. The disclosure is made at a time when the Indian govt has stated that Pakistani army forces most likely used Turkish-produced “Asisguard Songar” drones within the May 8 assaults on Indian towns. Initial forensic exam of particles from captured drones verified their foundation and tactical utility for reconnaissance and precision moves.

Against this background, defence professionals are going again to an important 1987 incident that humiliated Pakistan within the world area. During the Soviet-Afghan War, two F-16 airplane of Pakistan’s 14th Squadron had been despatched to intercept 4 Soviet-supported Afghan MiG-23s alongside the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. But the undertaking grew to become tragic when one PAF pilot unintentionally opened fireplace on his personal wingman in mid-air.

The undertaking was once commanded via Wing Commander Amjad Javed, with Flight Lieutenant Shahid Sikandar piloting the second one F-16. When the jets climbed to assault the MiG-23s, Javed at a loss for words Sikandar’s airplane as an enemy goal and fired an AIM-9P Sidewinder missile. The missile hit Sikandar’s F-16, which was once destroyed. Luckily, the pilot ejected safely and lived.

First, the Afghan Air Force took credit score for the shoot-down, announcing that it had destroyed a Pakistani fighter airplane. But a detailed exam of the wreckage advised a special tale: Pakistan had unintentionally shot down certainly one of its personal planes.

What made the humiliation worse was once that the F-16, which was once one of the vital subtle multirole fighter airplane then, had a friend-or-foe id gadget. Investigations indicated that the gadget malfunctioned, however American officers had been unconvinced for years concerning the clarification given via Pakistani government.

With Indo-Pak tensions erupting anew, army observers indicate that such incidents spotlight the paramount worth of operational self-discipline, excellent intelligence, and depended on generation in combating unintentional escalation — specifically between two nuclear-armed neighbours.