Who Won the Air War in 1971?

[Vinod2070]

One of the last enduring debates on the 1971 War is the outcome of the air war. Both sides continue to claim that it won the air war. This debate continues because victory in the air is more difficult to quantify than victory on land or sea. In the land and sea wars, India emerged as the clear victor both in terms of objectives attained and losses/gains versus the enemy. In the air war, even estimates of losses on both sides are widely divergent. Immediately after the war, the official Indian Government figures given out were 86 Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft destroyed as against 42 Indian Air Force (IAF) lost. The Pakistanis later claimed that they had actually won the air war by destroying over a 100 Indian aircraft while losing only 36 of their own. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between.

Unlike in 1965, the Indian Air Force in 1971 handled claims of aerial victories by its pilots with great maturity. No "kills" were awarded until all claims could be verified, preferably by photo reconnaissance missions. Almost immediately after the War was over, the Air Chief asked the Halwara station commander, Air Marshal C.V.Gole, to visit every IAF station in the West to ascertain the performance of various squadrons. "Later, we had access to other information as well and we worked out a pretty accurate picture of losses on both sides", he explains. But discrepancies could well remain. For instance, Gole recalls that one SAM battery had fired missiles at a couple of attacking Pakistani B-57 bombers. One was hit and streaming smoke. A few hours later, some villagers called to say that they had found the debris of the Pakistani aircraft. On investigation it was found that what remained was not the debris of an aircraft but that of a missile. The hit was not taken into account. It was only much after the war that some Pakistani report spoke about a B-57 pilot who had become "Shaheed" after he tried to bail out his burning aircraft but could not make it.

Pakistani claims of their own losses are less than reliable. The main cause of this confusion has to do with various "Official" histories of the PAF quoting different figures. It has been estimated by some observers, based on signal intercepts from the PAF, that the PAF lost at least seventy-two aircraft (including at least fifty-five combat types). Pakistan itself admits to the loss of twenty-nine combat aircraft on the ground. Only 16 were claimed to have been shot down over India. Add to this the 13 Sabres destroyed by the PAF itself at Dhaka. Even then the figure comes to 58. However, a lot of this is inaccurate.

After almost a year's of research, we at SAPRA INDIA believe that the losses of combat aircraft on both sides were as follows:



The PAF lost many more aircraft on the ground not only because the Indians launched many more counter air operations than the Pakistanis but also because the PAF itself destroyed 13 of its Sabres in Dhaka within a few days of the war. PAF's No. 14 squadron with about 18 aircraft felt it had been abandoned by its higher command and left to face the onslaught of ten full Indian squadrons. After a couple of gallant actions by Pakistani pilots, the PAF commanders in East Pakistan appear to have decided that the game was not worth the effort. The last aerial engagement in East Pakistan took place on 4 December.

Even if the Pakistani claim that the Indians lost more aircraft is accepted, does it suggest that the Pakistanis won the air war? The answer is a clear no. Because war, in the ultimate analysis, is not a numbers game. Winning a war has to do with achieving clear objectives. For the IAF, the aim was twofold: first, to prevent the PAF from messing with the Indian Army's advances, logistics and launching points; and second, to seriously impair Pakistan's capacity to wage war. The PAF's job was to do the opposite. The pre-emptive air strikes on 3rd December were aimed at knocking out a good part of the IAF while it was on the ground. This failed for the simple reason that the Indians had learnt their lessons of the 1965 war and had constructed fortified pens and bunkers to store their aircraft. More important, young IAF fliers proved they had the grit to go out and fight, even if it meant losing one's life.

By the end of the first week of the war, PAF fighters in the West appeared to have lost their will to fight. By this time, the IAF was repeatedly hitting secondary targets including railway yards, cantonments, bridges and other installations as well as providing close air support to the Army wherever it was required. The most dangerous were the close air support missions which involved flying low and exposing aircraft to intense ground fire. The IAF lost the most aircraft on these missions as is proved by the high losses suffered by IAF Sukhoi-7 and Hunter squadrons. But their pilots flew sortie after sortie keeping up with the Army and disrupting enemy troop and tank concentrations.

Once it was known that the Indian Army was knocking at the gates of Dhaka, the PAF in the West virtually gave up flying. During the last few days of the war, the IAF brass ordered attacks on PAF airfields with the sole purpose of drawing out their aircraft. But that rarely succeeded as the PAF aircraft for the most part remained secured inside their pens, refusing to come out and fight. The strongest indictment of the Pakistani Air Force was made not by an Indian but by the Pakistani leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who took over from General Yahya Yahya Khan after the 1971 defeat. On taking over, he made a speech in which he castigated the PAF chief Air Marshal Rahim Khan and several other officers by name.

A better analysis of effectiveness of the two air forces is provided by the losses per sortie figure. The IAF flew at least double the number of combat sorties per day than the PAF, thereby exposing itself to ground fire and enemy interdiction. Despite this, the IAF's attrition rate of 0.86 per 100 sorties during the 1971 War compares favourably with the Israeli rate of 1.1 in the Yom Kippur War. The PAF's overall attrition rate works out to 2.47 (including transporters and recce aircraft lost on the ground). If aircraft destroyed on the ground are not taken into account, the rate works out to 1.12, which is still very high given that PAF aircraft never really stood back to fight.

The question of loss is important but, in the ultimate analysis, secondary. Achieving air superiority cost the IAF dearly in 1971 but in the end it managed to achieve complete dominance over the skies in both East and West Pakistan.

By Indranil Banerjie, Rupak Chattopadhyay and Air Marshal (Retired) C.V.Gole

This article is the result of over 8 months of often frustrating research. Both the Indian and Pakistani air forces have tended to fudge figures and accounts. It took time and much effort to sift through the claims, counter-claims and various accounts of the 1971 air war to arrive at some basic conclusions.

1971 India-Pakistan War: The Air War - Case West

[Vinod2070]

I am opening this thread to specifically discuss the 1971 air war. Too many Pakistanis believe that Pakistan won the air war. Including honorable Mr. Muradk.

Originally Posted by Muradk

Yar Vinod I don't expect such comments from you. We all know who controlled the skies and there is nothing to be ashamed about it. Yes I admit we lost east Pakistan but we did kick IAF butt and you being an educated person cannot deny that.

Let us understand the reasons for that. What exactly is the basis of that claim?

Why do people want to separate the air war from the overall disaster from Pakistani POV. Was the PAF fighting it's own separate war independent of the overall war effort? How could a major part of the overall forces win a war and the nation still lose the war they way it did in 1971!

I personally feel that this is to keep alive the myth of the PAF superiority that has been kept alive since 1965. PAF is good, very good and very professional.

IAF is also equally good or better and has served the nation when needed.

The comments of Bhutto do paint a picture different to what most Pakistani members feel here.

The strongest indictment of the Pakistani Air Force was made not by an Indian but by the Pakistani leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who took over from General Yahya Yahya Khan after the 1971 defeat. On taking over, he made a speech in which he castigated the PAF chief Air Marshal Rahim Khan and several other officers by name.

[Imran Khan]

yaar vinod you post this losess wrong please visit bharat rakshak for same page there is difrent losess of air wars.

[Vinod2070]

Let's discuss the issue more holistically than just making it a numbers game.

[Imran Khan]

india win 1971 and i think bangali anti united pakistan like mujeeb win.

[Patriot]

Well, Here's General Chuck Comment's about PAF Air Supremacy in West Pakistan
The air war lasted two weeks and the Pakistanis scored a
three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made Indian jets
and losing thirty-four airplanes of their own. I'm certain about the
figures because I went out several times a day in a chopper and
counted the wrecks below." "They were really good, aggressive
dogfighters and proficient in gunnery and air combat tactics. I was
damned impressed. Those guys just lived and breathed flying. "
(General (Retd.) Chuck Yeager (USAF) , Book: Yeager, the
Autobiography).

[Goodperson]

Vinod, their is no doubt about who lost the war. No need to discuss it over and over again.

[Vinod2070]

Saad, this is about 1965 which was the cause of all the myths that were created. For now let's keep to 1971.

[Vinod2070]

Originally Posted by Goodperson

Vinod, their is no doubt about who lost the war. No need to discuss it over and over again.

I know that India won it in land, sea and air. There are still many Pakistanis who want to somehow convince themselves that they won the air war.

Let's see what have they got for us.

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by Vinod2070

Saad, this is about 1965 which was the cause of all the myths that were created. For now let's keep to 1971.

It is ABOUT 1971.General came here in 1971 not in 1965.We did win in 1965 too.
-
Chuck Yeager and the Pakistan Air Force
An Excerpt from Yeager,
the Autobiography of General (Retd.) Chuck E. Yeager (USAF)

When we arrived in Pakistan in 1971, the political situation between the
Pakistanis and Indians was really tense over Bangladesh, or East Pakistan,
as it was known in those days, and Russia was backing India with
tremendous amounts of new airplanes and tanks. The U.S. and China were
backing the Pakistanis. My job was military advisor to the Pakistani air
force, headed by Air Marshal Rahim Khan, who had been trained in Britain
by the Royal Air Force, and was the first Pakistani pilot to exceed the
speed of sound. He took me around to their different fighter groups and I
met their pilots, who knew me and were really pleased that I was there.
They had about five hundred airplanes, more than half of them Sabres and
104 Starfighters, a few B-57 bombers, and about a hundred Chinese MiG-19s.
They were really good, aggressive dogfighters and proficient in gunnery
and air combat tactics. I was damned impressed. Those guys just lived and
breathed flying.
One of my first jobs there was to help them put U.S. Sidewinders on their
Chinese MiGs, which were 1.6 Mach twin-engine airplanes that carried three
thirty-millimeter canons. Our government furnished them with the rails for
Sidewinders. They bought the missiles and all the checkout equipment that
went with them, and it was one helluva interesting experience watching
their electricians wiring up American missiles on a Chinese MiG. I worked
with their squadrons and helped them develop combat tactics. The Chinese
MiG was one hundred percent Chinese-built and was made for only one
hundred hours of flying before it had to be scrapped - a disposable
fighter good for one hundred strikes. In fairness, it was an older
airplane in their inventory, and I guess they were just getting rid of
them. They delivered spare parts, but it was a tough airplane to work on;
the Pakistanis kept it flying for about 130 hours.
War broke out only a couple of months after we had arrived, in late
November 1971, when India attacked East Pakistan. The battle lasted only
three days before East Pakistan fell. India's intention was to annex East
Pakistan and claim it for themselves. But the Pakistanis counter-attacked.
Air Marshal Rahim Khan laid a strike on the four closest Indian air fields
in the western part of India, and wiped out a lot of equipment. At that
point, Indira Gandhi began moving her forces toward West Pakistan.
China moved in a lot of equipment, while Russia backed the Indians all the
way. So, it really became a kind of surrogate war - the Pakistanis, with
U.S. training and equipment, versus the Indians, mostly Russian-trained,
flying Soviet airplanes.
The Pakistanis whipped their [Indians'] ***** in the sky.
The air war lasted two weeks and the
Pakistanis scored a three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made
Indian jets and losing thirty-four airplanes of their own. I'm certain
about the figures because I went out several times a day in a chopper and
counted the wrecks below. I counted wrecks on Pakistani soil, documented
them by serial number, identified the components such as engines, rocket
pods, and new equipment on newer planes like the Soviet SU-7
fighter-bomber and the MiG-21 J, their latest supersonic fighter. The
Pakistani army would cart off these items for me, and when the war ended,
it took two big American Air Force cargo lifters to carry all those parts
back to the States for analysis by our intelligence division.
I didn't get involved in the actual combat because that would've been too
touchy, but I did fly around and pick up shot-down Indian pilots and take
them back to prisoner-of-war camps for questioning. I interviewed them
about the equipment they had been flying and the tactics their Soviet
advisers taught them to use. I wore a uniform or flying suit all the time,
and it was amusing when those Indians saw my name tag and asked, "Are you
the Yeager who broke the sound barrier?" They couldn't believe I was in
Pakistan or understand what I was doing there. I told them, "I'm the
American Defense Rep here. That's what I'm doing."
India flew numerous raids against the Pakistani air fields with brand new
SU-7 bombers being escorted in with MiG 21s. On one of those raids, they
clobbered my small Beech Queen Air that had U.S. Army markings and a big
American flag painted on the tail. I had it parked at the Islamabad
airport, and I remember sitting on my front porch on the second day of the
war, thinking that maybe I ought to move that airplane down to the Iranian
border, out of range of the Indian bombers, when the damned air-raid siren
went off, and a couple of Indian jets came streaking in overhead. A moment
later, I saw a column of black smoke rising from the air field. My Beech
Queen was totaled. It was the Indian way of giving Uncle Sam the finger.
I stayed on in Pakistan for almost a year after the war ended, and it was
one of the most enjoyable times of my life. From 1972 until we came home
in March 1973, I spent most of my time flying in an F-86 Sabre with the
Pakistani fighter outfits. I dearly loved the Sabre, almost as much as I
enjoyed the P-51 Mustang from World War II days. It was a terrific
airplane to fly and I took one to see K-2, the great mountain of Pakistan
and the second highest mountain in the world, about an hour's flight away
[from Islamabad] at over 28,000 feet.
It's a fabulous peak, as awesome and beautiful as any on earth, located in
the middle of a high range that runs the length of the Chinese-Pakistani
border. We actually crossed over into China to get there, and I've got
some pictures of me in my cockpit right smack up against the summit. I
made two or three trips up to K-2 - real highlights. I also did some
bighorn sheep hunting in the Himalayan foothills. Susie owned a little
Arabian mare. She took her horse when I went hunting and actually learned
some of the Urdu language of the mountain people.

Copyright © 1985 by Yeager Inc.

[Imran Khan]

TYPE EAST WEST TOTAL
MiG-21 2 6 (2) 8
Sukhoi -7 1 18(1) 19
Hunter 12 (3) 11(2) 23
Canberra 1 4 (1) 5
Gnat - 3 (2) 3
Mystere IVa - 5 (2) 5
HF-24 - 4 4
Vampire - 1 1
Alize (Navy) - 1 1
Dakota 1 (1) - 1
AOP (Army) - 1 1
Helicopters 2 (2) 2 (1) 4
TOTAL 19 (6) 56 (11) 75 (17)

[Imran Khan]

WESTERN SECTOR
Date Aircraft

Sqn
Name of the Aircrew S.No Location Remarks Fate

04-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

101
Flt Lt J Rishi B 899 AdampurAFB Tyreburst on TO. Crashed killed

04-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

222
Flt Lt Harvinder Singh B 849 Risalawala SD F-6 (Flt Lt Latif) killed

04-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

101
Flt Lt Gurdip Singh . - AAA fire Counter Air Mission Eject

04-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

222
Flt Lt P N Saksena . - AAA Dam Ejected Tac Supp Eject

04-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

108
Flt Lt D R Natu B 854 Halwara AAA Dam Pt Ejected Eject

04-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

32
Flt Lt M S Grewal . Shorkot AFB SD AAA 1400 Hrs POW

04-Dec-71
Hunter

-
- - - AAA Fire CrL at BAse ?

04-Dec-71
Hunter

27
Fg Off V Chati A 479 Mianwali SD F-6 (Fg Off Qazi Javed) POW

04-Dec-71
Hunter

20
Flt Lt K P Muralidharan A 462 N Peshawar SD F-86 (F/O S B Mirza) killed

04-Dec-71
Hunter

27
Fg Off S Tyagi A 490 Murid AFB SD F-86 (F/Lt Mujahid ) killed

04-Dec-71
HF-24

220
Flt Lt P V Apte D1193 Nayachor SD AAA at Dharnaro RS killed

04-Dec-71
HF-24

220
Flt Lt J L Bhargava . Nayachor SD AAA POW

04-Dec-71
Canberra

JBCU
Flt Lt L M Sasoon (Pt)
Flt Lt R M Advani (Nav) IF916 Sargodha SD MirageIII (F/O Naeem Ata) killed

05-Dec-71
Canberra

5
Flt Lt S K Goswami (Pt)
Flt Lt S C Mahajan (Nav) IF960 /
IF899 . SD AAA Night of 4/5 Dec. Cr near Khushab killed

05-Dec-71
Alloutte

-
- - SrinagarAFS SD F-86? Pts Injured Safe

05-Dec-71
Mystere

3
Flt Lt A V Pethia IA 954 Bhawalnagar SD AAA 0715 Hrs POW

05-Dec-71
Hunter

20
Sqn Ldr J M Mistry A1014 Sakesar SD MirageIIIs (Fg Off Safdar) killed

05-Dec-71
Hunter

27
Flt Lt G S Rai A 482 Sakesar SD F-6 (W/C S Hatmi)1235 Hrs killed

05-Dec-71
Hunter

27
Fg Off K L Malkani A 488 Sakesar SD F-6 (F/O S Raza ) 1235 Hrs killed

05-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

32
Flt Lt V V Tambey B 839 Shorkot AFB SD AAA 1350 Hrs killed

05-Dec-71
MiG-21

29
Flt Lt Harish Singhji C 764 Suleimanke SD AAA 1530 Hrs POW

05-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

26
Sqn Ldr D S Jafa B 891 E of Lahore SD AAA 1555 Hrs POW

05-Dec-71
Canberra

35
Flt Lt S C Sandal (Pt)
Flt Lt K S Nanda (Nav) IF923 Masroor SD AAA killed

06-Dec-71
Gnat

21
. . Uttarlai AF WO during Landing Safe

06-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

222
Fg Off K C Kuruvilla B 854 JassarBridge SD AAA 1025 Hrs. POW

06-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

101
Flt Lt V K Wahi B 868 Chamb SD Pt EJ possibly by Mir III. killed

06-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

101
Flt Lt J Bhattacharya . Chamb SD 1225 Hrs. Eject

06-Dec-71
Mystere

3
. . Haveli Engine Failure Eject

07-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

26
Sqn Ldr Jiwa Singh B 902 Samba SD F-6 (Fg Off Atiq Sufi) killed

07-Dec-71
Gnat

9
Fg Off M M Singh . Amritsar Cr on Ferry flight lost control. killed

08-Dec-71
MiG-21

45
Sqn Ldr Denzil Keelor . Chamb SD AAA Eject

08-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

TACDE
Flt Lt R G Kadam B 910 Risalawala SD F-86 (W/C M H Hashmi) killed

08-Dec-71
Hunter

7
Wg Cdr B A Coelho BA329 Suleimanke SD AAA 1200 Hrs Hasilpur POW

08-Dec-71
Mystere

3
. . Haveli SD AAA Amruka Eject

09-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

32
Flt Lt N Shanker B 860 NW Amritsar SD AAA killed

09-Dec-71
HF-24

10
Sqn Ldr A V Kamat BD859 Hyderabad. SD AAA at Kotri, POW

10-Dec-71
Hunter

27
Sqn Ldr M K Jain A 938 Chamb SD AAA killed

10-Dec-71
Alize

310
Lt Cdr Ashok Roy (Pt)
Lt H S Sirohi (Obs)
Acmn O Vijayan (TG) IN203 Arabian Sea. SD F-104 (W/C Arif Iqbal) killed

10-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

26
Flt Lt Dilip Parulkar . Zafarwal SD AAA POW

10-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

108
Flt Lt S K Chibber B 798 Mdi Sdiqganj SD AAA 0915 Hrs killed

11-Dec-71
Alloutte

114HU
Sqn Ldr K L Bajaj Z 366 Kashmir Hit Power Lines at Pt 7573 killed

11-Dec-71
MiG-21

1
Flt Lt A B Dhavle C1107 Adampur Accident. SD by a MiG-21 killed

11-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

26
Flt Lt K K Mohan B 780 Shakargarh SD F-86 (Wg Cdr Bhukhari) killed

11-Dec-71
Canberra

5
Flt Lt R D Naithani (Pt)
Flt Lt G Theophilus (Nav)
Flt Lt M Purohit (Nav) IF1024 35 Miles NE of Bikaner SD?? No Corresponding PAF claim found. could be AA or Disorientation. was attacking Lodharan RS. killed

11-Dec-71
HF-24

10
Sqn Ldr M S Jatar . Uttarlai AFB Strafed on Ground at by F-104 OK

12-Dec-71
MiG-21

47
Fg Off P K Sahu C 603 Palam AFB Accident. Undershot Runway. killed

13-Dec-71
Mystere

3
Sqn Ldr J D Kumar IA1331 Haveli SD AAA killed

13-Dec-71
MiG-21

47
Wg Cdr H S Gill C 705 Badin SD AAA 1635 Hrs killed

14-Dec-71
Gnat

18
Fg Off N S Sekhon E 257 Srinagar SD F-86(F/O SB Mirza)0750 Hr killed

14-Dec-71
Krishak

660
Capt P K Gaur N 965 Shakargarh SD F-86(S/L S Gauhar)1610 Hr killed

15-Dec-71
Vampire

121


---
. Srinagar Destroyed on Ground N.A

16-Dec-71
Sukhoi-7

26
Flt Lt T S Dandass B 889 Narowal RS SD AAA killed

17-Dec-71
MiG-21

29
Flt Lt Tejwant Singh C 716 Pasrur SD F-86 (F/L Maqsood Amir) POW

17-Dec-71
Mystere

3
. . Haveli Engine Flame out. Eject
Grand losses 54 Known Losses (Incl 9 Accident Losses) + 2 Unlisted Hunter (Accident) losses.
Othere Unattributed Pilots:

[Vinod2070]

The number of kills claimed by the two sides are wildly different. Here is one link for Indian cliams:

http://www.ordersofbattle.darkscape....1971_kills.pdf

Brig General Chuck Yeager's account [29] of the war, from his autobiography, is selectively quoted by Pakistanis in support of PAF claims. However, the credibility of the same is also completely destroyed through the inclusion of certain laughable gems in his own assessment, such as the claim that India wanted to keep East Pakistan for itself, that the IAF operated the MiG-21J (not inducted until 1973 as the MiG-21MF) and that F-86 and F-104 Starfighters constituted half the PAF fleet of 500 aircraft! Yeager gives away his agenda by explicitly labeling the conflict as a surrogate war between the Soviet Union (India) and America (Pakistan). Yeager also mentions that the outcome on the ground was the complete opposite of the outcome of the air war, where the PAF "whipped their (Indian) ***** in the sky ". Yet, without the IAF's dominance over the battlefield and the consequential ability to provide uninterrupted support to ground forces throughout the conflict, how could that have ever happened? Perhaps this embarrassingly false account simply added to the PAF's lack of credibility, fueled in the past by ridiculous claims. Pakistani sources even needed to fabricate the IAF's strength in order to once again portray a David-vs-Goliath
struggle. For example, a prominent PAF author [37], claims that the IAF had no less than 1200 combat aircraft alone, against the IAF's actual strength of 625 combat aircraft. Another author, a retired Pakistani Brigadier, claims [38] that the IAF was in fact, in possession of, MiG-23s and MiG-19s, as early as 1965.

Funnily enough, it was the PAF itself and not the IAF, which had a MiG-19 variant, the Shenyang F-6C, during the follow on 1971 conflict. It is thus unsurprising to see so many independent air-power and airwar analysts [30] [33] [35] castigate the PAF for the use of rather bare faced propaganda

[Imran Khan]

why not you bring BR page here?????/ because there is more losses.

[Patriot]

I think Mr Murad can explain honestly who won air war in West Pakistan.