Shaheens Over Kohat

On 3rd November,1988, Flt. Lt. Khalid Mehmood & Sqn Ldr Ehetsham Zakariya (No.14Sqn) spotted 6 Afghani Sukhois ( 3 on ground support and 3 flying top cover ) in Tull, near Kohat. Flt Lt Khalid was flying No.2 in F-16A Sr. No 84-717.

Khalid obtained a lock on the No. 2 aircraft, which was flying on the southern side of the formation. The F-16 lead pilot obtained a visual tally, with Khalid following suit moments later. At this time both F-16s were still at 10,000 ft while the bandit - which was confirmed as a Su-22 was some 7000 ft higher.

Khalid's lead elected to press home his attack, but the Su-22 pilot then showed good tactical sense by turning to face the threat. This prevented the first F-16 from getting off a missile, although that its pilot had experienced some difficulty with his Sidewinder which may have prevented him from engaging.

In choosing to evade the threat posed by the leading F-16, the Su-22 pilot placed himself at the risk of attack by Khalid, who wasted no time in making a hard right turn into the Su-22. He duly launched an AIM-9L from a range of 2.7 nm in a head-on pass. While all that was going on, the lead F-16 began maneuvering into a position which would enable him to engage the Su-22 with gunfire from a six-o'clock position. He still had some way to go when Khalid's Sidewinder struck home , smoke and panels falling from the damaged fighter, which continued flying about 10 nm inside Pakistan.

Khalid realised very quickly that the Su-22 was damaged. he waited a few more seconds before launching another AIM-9L at an aspect angle of about 150-160 degrees, this barely leaving the rail before the enemy pilot ejected . This missile also scored a direct hit, causing the Su-22 to break in two and headed earthwards on fire. The Afghani pilot was captured after bailing out and taken POW.


For more visit:
http://www.pafwallpapers.com/kill_illustrations.htm