The base was originally operated by the
Royal Air Force as
RAF Chaklala and, during the Second World War, parachute training flights were conducted. Once transferred to the then
Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF), the base came into use as a transport hub, with the PAF's fleet of various transport aircraft operating from it. In 1979, the base was home to both
No. 15 Squadron PAF and
No. 26 Squadron PAF with the
North American F-86F Sabres and
No. 6 Squadron PAF with the
Lockheed C-130B/E Hercules &
Lockheed L-100 Hercules. After the
Pakistan earthquake of 2005, 300 U.S. troops as well as U.S. aircraft were deployed to Chaklala to aid in relief efforts. According to an anonymous 2013 source, the U.S. had been allowed permanent military presence at Chaklala since late 2001 for handling logistics efforts and other movements in relation to the war in Afghanistan. In 2009 the PAF's first of four
Il-78 aerial refuelling tanker aircraft was delivered to PAF Base Chaklala and the No. 10 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) squadron was established there. The name of the base was changed in 2012 from PAF Base Chaklala to PAF Base Nur Khan in remembrance of its first Base Commander in 1947,
Air Marshal Nur Khan. Nur Khan was also the second Pakistani chief of the
Pakistan Air Force and a veteran of several conflicts fought by Pakistan. Five PAF
F-16s escorted US
Vice-president JD Vance's C-32 to Nur Khan base in Islamabad on 11 April 2026 for negotiations following the
2026 Iran war ceasefire. Airstrikes During the
2025 India–Pakistan conflict, the
Indian Air Force carried out
precision cruise missile airstrikes on several key
military targets in Pakistan which included technical infrastructure, command and control centres, radar sites and weapon storage areas. On 10 May, the Indian Air Force carried out airstrikes on the Nur Khan Airbase, targeting runways and military infrastructure. According to Indian defense officials, the operation was intended as a "calibrated response" to cross-border attacks. According to an eye-witness and two Pakistani security officials, the attack on Nur Khan airbase saw at least two missile strikes as well as drone attacks. Pakistan’s military stated that its air defense systems intercepted most of the incoming missiles, and no critical assets were lost. However, according to a Reuters citing an official who visited the base the next day, the barrage hit two roofs and hit the hangar of a refueling plane. According to
Air Forces Monthly, the missiles struck the operations room of the 35th Composite Transport Wing, destroying two fuel trucks and collaterally damaging one Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the
No. 6 Squadron PAF at the aforementioned hangar. A ceasefire was proposed after these airstrikes. Within hours of India's missile-drone strikes on several Pakistani airbases, especially Nur Khan, reportedly prompted US intervention for a ceasefire agreement. The base is a strategic asset for PAF as "one of the central transport hubs" and "home to the
air refueling capability" (
No. 10 Squadron). The facility is also just over a mile from the headquarters of
Strategic Plans Division responsible for
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal which includes over 170 warheads. According to Christopher Clary, an associate professor at the
University at Albany, "So, an attack on the facility may have been perceived as more dangerous than India intended – and the two sides should not conclude that it is possible to have a conflict without it going nuclear". == Units ==