The No. 8 Squadron was raised in
1960 at the
Mauripur Airbase. Being part of the
31st Bomber Wing of PAF, it was quickly equipped with
Martin B-57 Canberra bombers which
Pakistan received as part of the
1955 Pakistan-US mutual defence treaty. These consisted of 1 B-57C trainer variant & a dozen or so B-57B variants which were bought from the USAF's
345th Bombardment Wing after it was disbanded. Throughout its service with the PAF, No. 8 Squadron participated in several
armament competitions and
Military exercises. Later in the
1965 War, the squadron together with the
Bandits squadron conducted heavy airstrikes on several Indian Airforce
bases. After the war however, the Haider's B-57 fleet had been considerably effected due to crashes and lack of spares & technical support as a result of postwar
US Sanctions, hence its B-57s along with other assets (including the pilots) were transferred to the
Bandits and the squadron was number plated in 1968 after its
Officer Commanding Rais A. Rafi completed the command of the squadron before being
deployed to Iraq. The squadron was raised again in 1983 this time re-equipped with newly inducted
Dassault Mirage 5 strike fighters. It became the PAF's first squadron to be assigned the role of
Maritime Support, as a result the squadron worked closely with the
Pakistan Navy taking part in several naval exercises.
Operational history World's first bomber formation loop On 27 October 1964, during an
air show organized at
Peshawar, a formation of four Haider B-57s led by
Wing Commander Nazir Latif performed a spectacular
Aerobatics demonstration in honour of the visiting
Indonesian air chief;
Air Marshal Omar Dani. These included the first-ever
aerobatic loop with a
bomber aircraft along with
rolls and
wingovers, something which a heavy and bulky aircraft like the B-57 was barely capable of.
1965 Indo-Pakistani War During the
1965 Indo-Pakistani War, PAF launched an aggressive airstrike campaign throughout India targeting various Indian airbases in retaliation to the
Indian invasion. The 31st Bomber Wing was tasked to disable IAF runways at
Jamnagar,
Adampur &
Pathankot.
Close air support missions On 11 September, the squadron's OC led
Close Air Support sorties in support of Pakistani & Kashmiri separatist forces in the
Samba area of
Indian Administered Kashmir. The squadron flew its last combat
sortie (A
Close Air Support mission) over
Sialkot District when it struck retreating Indian army
artillery &
cavalry units.
Maritime operations During its tenure as a Maritime support squadron, Two Haider
Mirage Vs intercepted
INS Talwar (1959) on 24 September 1992 after it crossed into Pakistani territorial seas. The Mirages flown by
Flight Lieutenant Ali & Flight Lieutenant Mazhar later forced the Indian ship out of Pakistani waters. In May 1995, Mirages of No. 8 Squadron engaged with
USS Abraham Lincoln during the joint exercise "Inspired Alert" with
US Central Command. The mission was to successfully penetrate the
aircraft carrier's early warning systems and perimeter defences after which the Mirages would fire a simulated
Exocet anti-ship missile. This task was accomplished by the Squadron's
Officer Commanding "Wing Commander Asim Suleiman" & his
wingman "Flight Lieutenant Ahmed Hassan" after executing a well planned multi-directional attack with three Mirage pairs that led to the carrier's defences being overloaded. None of the Haiders were intercepted by carrier's fighters. == Exercises ==