During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, the Indian and Pakistani Air Forces engaged in large-scale aerial combat for the first time. In the air war, which took place in September, both air forces conducted thousands of defensive and offensive sorties over Indian and Pakistani airspace. Both India and Pakistan claimed victory in the air war; Pakistan claimed to have destroyed 104 Indian aircraft and lost 19, and India claimed to have destroyed 73 Pakistani aircraft and lost 35 of its own. The air war ended in a stalemate.
Background
The war began in early August 1965, and fighting was initially confined mainly to the ground. As hostilities progressed, however, both sides began air operations. Although India and Pakistan had fought in the First Kashmir War, shortly after the partition of India in 1947, that war was more limited in scale than the 1965 conflict; air operations had been largely confined to interdiction, re-supply and troop transport. One Indian fighter aircraft had intercepted a Pakistani transport in the earlier war, but there was no significant air-to-air combat. During the 1965 conflict, however, the Pakistan Air Force flew a total of 2,364 sorties; the Indian Air Force flew 3,937 sorties.
Main battle
The aerial phase of the war began on 1 September 1965, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) responded to an urgent call for air strikes against the Pakistani Army (which had begun Operation Grand Slam. The IAF quickly launched 26 aeroplanes (12 de Havilland Vampires and 14 Dassault Mystère IVs) to blunt the Pakistan Army's offensive in Chhamb. The IAF's 45th Squadron was tasked with close air support of Indian troops. The squadron, recently moved from Pune to Pathankot after the 220th Squadron was merged into it, was commanded by S. K. "Marshal" Dhar. Group Captain Roshan Suri painted a grim picture of the Indian Army's position at Akhnoor and the Pakistan Army's armoured thrust at Chhamb, on the Tawi River near Jammu. Twenty-eight aircraft (12 Vampires and 16 Mysteres) were used, and the first planes took off at 17:19 hours. The planes flew in formation and strafed Pakistani tanks and ground targets, although friendly fire was also later reported. When the Indian aircraft were sighted, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) scrambled two F-86 Sabres (flown by S/L Sarfraz Rafiqui of the No. 5 Squadron and F/L Imtiaz Bhatti of No. 15 Squadron) to intercept. In the ensuing dogfight over Chhamb, where Rafiqui took on the flight leader and wingman and Bhatti went after the element leader and element wingman, the IAF lost all four of its Vampires; they were flown by Squadron Leader Aspi Kekobad Bhagwagar (flight leader), Flight Lieutenant Vijay Madhav Joshi (element leader), Flight Lieutenant Satish Bharadwaj (element wingman) and Flight Lieutenant (later Group Captain) Shrikrishna Vishnu Phatak (wingman). Both Pakistani pilots claimed two aircraft kills each.
The IAF withdrew about 130 Vampires and over 50 Ouragons from front-line service. Although India's use of fixed-winged Vampires was later criticized, eight of the 12 Vampires successfully completed their tasks; 14 Mysteres returned unscathed, and the IAF claimed success in slowing the Pakistan Army's momentum. Both sides supported their ground forces on 2 September, but no major aerial engagement was observed.
The PAF's Sabres forced the IAF to send Folland Gnat fighters to the forward base at Pathankot; India used Mysteres flying at slow speed as bait to lure the Sabres to attack, and the waiting Gnats would take them on. Two Sabres were scrambled, but one had to turn back when the pilot could not jettison its fuel tanks. The other, flown by F/L Yusaf Ali Khan, spotted the IAF planes and tried positioning himself behind them before attacking. As Khan got them in his cross-hairs, however, he was surrounded by a group of Gnats under attack. A Lockheed F-104 Starfighter in the area was sent to the dogfight, and another one was scrambled from the base. The first Starfighter passed through the dogfight at supersonic speed; the Gnats, after scoring a kill, began to leave. IAF Squadron Leader Trevor Keelor of No. 23 Squadron claimed to have shot down an F-86 Sabre on 3 September for the IAF's first air-combat victory of the war, and received the Vir Chakra; however, the Sabre made it back to the base. Its pilot, Khan, received the Sitara-e-Jurat for surviving the dogfight against six Gnats and bringing the damaged Sabre back home. An IAF Gnat pilot was overheard warning others of the incoming Starfighter. A Gnat flown by S/L Brij Pal Singh Sikand mistakenly landed at an abandoned airstrip in Pasrur after Sikand thought he had safely crossed the border. After realising his mistake, Sikand's takeoff attempt was aborted due to a Pakistan Army jeep on the runway; he was taken prisoner, and later handed over to the PAF. A Starfighter flown by F/L Hakimullah Khan at supersonic speed was credited with forcing the Gnat down, and the Gnat is on display at the Pakistan Air Force Museum in Karachi. It was flown from Pasrur to Sargodha by S/L Saad Hatmi, who evaluated its flight performance and downplayed its effectiveness in a dogfight.
On 4 September, an F-86 Sabre was lost. The PAF said that the cause was friendly ground fire, but the IAF said that they shot it down.
Bhatti had 34 combat missions, the most flown by any pilot during the war. According to Pakistani sources, Muhammad Mahmood Alam reportedly shot down seven Indian aircraft (two of which were "probable". During a sortie on 7 September, five IAF Hawker Hunter aircraft were shot down by Alam over the Sargodha airbase in one minute; Alam claimed victory over four in 30 seconds. His claim was contested by the IAF, which denied losing five Hawker Hunter aircraft that day; several experts, including retired PAF Air Commodore Sajad Haider, also discredited Alam's claim about the sortie. No verifiable gun camera footage of Alam's kills was made public by Pakistani authorities.
On 6 September, the Indian Army crossed the border at Lahore to relieve pressure on the Chamb Jaurian sector. That evening, the PAF responded with attacks on Indian airfields at Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara. The IAF lost almost ten aircraft on the ground at Pathankot, but the attacks on Adampur and Halwara were unsuccessful. The Adampur strike, led by S/L M. M. Alam, turned back before reaching Adampur; the Halwara strike, led by S/L Sarfraz Rafiqi, was impossible due to IAF combat air patrol. Two Indian Hunters were lost in air combat. Both Indian pilots survived, ejecting over their base, but both Pakistani pilots (including Rafiqui) were killed. Rafiqui had shot down two Vampires and the first of the Hunters, posthumously receiving the Sitara-e-Jurat for the Chhamb action and the Hilal-i-Jurat for Halwara. F/L Cecil Chaudhry returned from the pursuit.
According to Indian sources, the PAF parachuted 135 Special Services Group (SSG) commandos at three Indian airfields (Halwara, Pathankot and Adampur) on 7 September. The attempt was an "unmitigated disaster". Only ten commandos returned to Pakistan, and the rest were prisoners of war (including a commander, Major Khalid Butt). The troops landed in residential areas of Halwara and Adampur, where villagers caught them and handed them over to police.
That day, the IAF mounted 33 sorties against the heavily guarded Sargodha Airfield Complex, owned by the PAF. They lost two Mysteres and three Hunters to local PAF squadrons. One of the Indian Hunter pilots, who ejected near Sargodha, was taken prisoner and released after the war. One of the crippled Mysteres was involved in a dogfight with a Starfighter, shooting each other down. The Pakistani pilot ejected; S/L Ajamada B. Devayya was killed, and received a posthumous Maha Vir Chakra.
During the 7 September PAF raid on Kalaikunda, Indian F/L A. T. Cooke engaged three PAF Sabres. Cooke shot one down and damaged a second; out of ammunition, he chased away the third Sabre (which was shot down by his wingman). On 8 September, an Indian S-75 Dvina missile was fired against an unidentified target believed to have been on a night mission above Ghaziabad (near Delhi).
The war then lessened in intensity, with occasional clashes between the IAF and the PAF. Both air forces changed their strategy from air interdiction to ground attack and concentrated their efforts on soft-skinned vehicles, supply lines, wagons carrying ammunition, and armoured vehicles. IAF English Electric Canberras raided several Pakistani bases. A 10 September battle involved eight aeroplanes over the River Beas: two PAF F-86 Sabres (flown by S/L Muniruddin Ahmad and F/L Imtiaz Bhatti) and six IAF planes – four Mysteres and two Gnats – with two 30 mm Aden cannons, led by F/L V. Kapila and F/L Harry Sidhu. Both IAF pilots said that their guns jammed. Both PAF pilots said that they shot and damaged one IAF aeroplane each. Same-day IAF records acknowledge losing one Mystere, with the pilot (Fg Off D. P. Chinoy safely ejecting in Pakistan during the evening and walking back to safety at night.
On 13 September, another encounter took place between PAF Sabres from Sargodha and IAF Gnats from the No. 2 Squadron. An Indian Gnat was shot down by a PAF F-86 Sabre flown by F/L Yusaf Ali Khan, but the Indian pilot ejected safely. The other Gnat was damaged in combat by F/L Imtiaz Bhatti. Although its pilot returned to the base, All India Radio said that he died of injuries sustained during combat. After he reportedly died on landing, his funeral was attended by the president of India. Khan was credited with a kill; Bhatti was credited with damaging the IAF Gnat, despite later confirmation that the injured pilot and the Gnat crash-landed. Later on the night of 13/14 September, Indian Canberras made the war's deepest penetration into Pakistani airspace and attacked bases near Peshawar and Kohat. Instead of bombing the Peshawer runway, however, IAF bombers mistook the mall road in Peshawer as the runway and dropped their bombs there instead. The Canberras were intercepted by a Pakistani F-104 near Lahore, but evaded the Starfighter and returned home safely. They also encountered F-86 Sabres, one of which damaged the Canberras. A Pakistani F-86 Sabre crashed while making an evasive maneuver in an attempt to escape pursuit by a Gnat which was defending the Canberra bombers, and the PAF pilot was killed. The Gnat pilot, W/C Singh, was credited with an aerial victory for the incident near Amritsar. Pakistan acknowledged losing an F-86 Sabre and its pilot, S/L Allaudin "Butch" Ahmad, who was killed in action while leading four aeroplanes attacking an ammunition train near Gurdaspur, Amritsar.
On 16 September, an IAF Hunter and a PAF F-86 Sabre were shot down over Halwara. The IAF pilot was killed, but the Pakistani pilot ejected and spent the rest of the war as a POW. A Pakistani Cessna and an Auster observation aircraft were also shot down that day.
On 18 September, a Sabre was shot down by a Gnat over Amritsar piloted by Amar Jit Singh Sandhu; the incident was reported by the District Collector, who witnessed the dogfight. That day, a Pakistani Sabre shot down a civilian Indian aircraft after the civilian plane identified itself; the PAF pilot assumed that it was on a reconnaissance mission. Years later, the pilot wrote to the Indian pilot's daughter and apologized for shooting down the aircraft. The plane was carrying Gujarat Chief Minister Balwant Rai.
On 19 September, a Gnat and two Sabres were shot down over Chawinda. One of the Sabres was credited to S/L Denzil Keelor, the brother of Trevor Keelor, who was credited with the first Indian aerial victory of the war. The following day, another two Hunters and an F-86 Sabre were lost over Kasur, Pakistan.
The F-86 was vulnerable against the Folland Gnat, nicknamed "Sabre Slayer." The Gnat is credited by independent and Indian sources with shooting down seven Pakistani Canadair Sabres in the 1965 war; two Gnats were downed by PAF fighters.