Remembering Operation Swift Retort -The Second Pilot

 

The Second Pilot

A media war of sorts, mostly involving keyboard warriors, is going on since 27^th February 2019 when, in retaliation to an IAF foray across the LoC a night earlier, PAF launched an attack against six Indian military targets in Indian Held Kashmir.

Pakistan claims to have downed two Indian aircraft that day, a MiG21 Bis piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan, and an SU30 MKI. Whereas the wreckage of MiG21 fell inside Pakistani territory and the pilot was apprehended, the SU30 and its pilot(s) remain elusive.

In their counterclaim, IAF insists that Abhinandan, before getting shot down, had locked his air-to-air missile on a PAF F-16 and shot it down. This was the F-16, they claim, whose wreckage had also fallen inside Pakistani territory. The F-16 pilot, they speculate, might have been mistaken for an Indian pilot and smothered by the locals. This, they contend, explains the mystery of the second injured Indian pilot taken prisoner according to the initial Pakistani reports.

On 28^th February, India’s defence spokesman displayed the remains of an American-made missile as ‘absolute proof’ that IAF had shot down a PAF- F16 the day before, claiming that the missile could only have been launched by an F-16. The wreckage displayed by the Indian spokesman identified the missile as an AIM- 120C-5 AMRAAM. 

Markings on the wreckage also identified the contract serial number of the missile as FA8675-05-C-0070. A cyber search done by a Pakistani newspaper, The Express Tribune, revealed that contract number FA-8675-05-C- 0070 corresponded to a batch of AIM-120C-5 AMRAAM missiles supplied to Taiwan in a Foreign Military Sale worth $2.38 million. Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and considers Taiwan as a province of China. A version of the report can be found on the official website of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. It can be accessed via the following link: https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpic/cp/docs/USA002235- 10_Complete%20Foreign%20Military%20Sales.pdf.

Almost a month after the clash, The same Indian defence spokesman held another press briefing in which he displayed the electronic imagery of an IAF AWAC aircraft (A-50EI Il-76 fitted with the EL/W-2090 Israeli airborne Phalcon radar). He cited it as a proof that on 27^th February at least three PAF F-16s were present in the area of engagement and that one of the F-16s suddenly disappeared from the radar screen. The imagery, in fact, was not the original electronic image sent by the

IAF AWAC. It was a photo-shopped version of the original imagery. This, explained the spokesman, was due to security reasons.

Whereas the official Pakistani media remains quiet, the grapevine suggests that the unexplained second pilot might have been an Israeli, who, according to the initial accounts, was admitted in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) of the Pakistan Army. There are at least two signs which point out to this possibility:

1)   Zafar Ali Hilaly, a retired Pakistani diplomat and former ambassador to Nigeria, Yemen, and Italy disclosed in a TV programme that it might be so. Given below is the transcript of Zafar Hilaly’s statement on the TV channel:

We have (in our custody) an Israeli pilot whose plane was downed by us, my information tells. Israel had appealed to America for (the pilot’s) release. And, you know, Israel is (just like) part f America. So, the Americans had appealed to us for the release of (this) Israeli pilot. I think we would have given a favorable answer to the Americans, from their point of view. That was the reason there was no further escalation and the things de-escalated.

A person of the caliber and repute of Hilaly cannot indulge in kite flying on the media.

2)     After the suicide attack on an Indian CPRF convoy at Pulwama, Hananiya Naftali, an Israeli blogger who is considered fairly close to the Israeli PM Nethanyahu, Tweeted this picture of Israeli air force pilots (faces blurred) standing  with Indian pilots:

The Tweet was withdrawn after a few days. This writer tried to contact @HananiyaNaftali to verify if there was an Israeli pilot missing from their “Attendance Roll”. He didn’t reply. But his Tweet did reveal that the group photo was taken either in Israel or India, and that Israelis were hand in glove in planning and executing military operations against Pakistan. The suspicion was further reinforced when Pakistan’s FM stated India and Israel had planned a missile attack against two Pakistani cities but backed off when Pakistan threatened retaliation. Pakistan, it should be understood, is not in a position to annoy America by indulging in insinuations against Israel, her grand ally.

There is a history of Israel- Pakistan frictions where Pakistan, showing a heightened sense of solidarity with the Arab states, involved herself actively in Arab-Israel hostilities. PAF pilots took part in air operations against Israel during the 1967 and 1973 wars. It goes like this:

“Pakistani pilots did participate in both the 67' and 73' wars with Israel”. Replied Amit Meltzer, an Israeli, on March 22, 2016 to a query on the internet. “They fought with Jordan in 67' and with Syria in 73”, he continues. “The pilots were considerably more skilled than those of the Arab host countries and probably managed to shoot down at least 1 Israeli jet, though claims of 10+ victories are probably just a flight of fancy. I checked the official lists of Israeli pilots downed and killed in both wars, and there's only one credible victory claimed that can be verified (Saiful Azam)”.Well, at least the Israeli concedes the loss of one aircraft.

At 12:48 p.m. on June 5, four Israeli jets were descending on Jordan’s Mafraq airbase to smash the country’s tiny air force, shortly after the entire Egyptian air force had been reduced to rubble. To intercept the incoming attack, Jordanian air force commanders deputized Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam, who was on loan as an advisor from Pakistan. Once airborne with other Jordanian pilots, Saiful Azam engaged the attacking aircraft in air-to-air combat, shooting down a Mystére commanded by Israeli pilot H. Boleh and shot and damaging another that crash-landed in Israeli territory.

 

Two days later he was urgently dispatched to Iraq along with several Jordanian pilots to defend the Iraqi airbases against the Israeli air force which by then had ruled without any challenge the Arab skies over Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and now Iraq. Here, he again was deputized by the Iraqi air force, along with top Jordanian pilot Ihsan Shurdom, who later became the commander of the Jordanian air force, to fly its Hunters in defense of its H-3 and al-Walid airbases. Once airborne the Jordanian and Iraqi pilots with Saiful Azam leading the formation intercepted the attacking Israeli aircraft that ended up shooting down two of Azam’s Iraqi wingmen

by the attacking Israelis. It was then when Saiful Azam used his air combat skills and, flying the Iraqi Hunter, shot down two of the Israeli attacking planes. Within 72 hours, Saiful Azam became the only fighter pilot in the world to hold the record of shooting down three confirmed kills of Israeli aircraft in air-to-air combat, a record that still stands today. After the 71 War, Saif ul Azam opted for Bangladesh, his native country. 

 

 

 

Saif ul Islam was decorated by Field Marshall Ayub Khan for shooting down an IAF Gnat during 65 War

 

 

While Amit Metzer denies Israel having lost any aircraft other than the one shot down by Saif ul Azam, there is another PAF claim:

On 26 April 1974, PAF fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Sattar Alvi, on deputation to No. 67A Squadron, Syrian Air Force (SAF) was flying a SAF MiG-21F-13 (Serial No. 1863) out of Dumayr Air Base, Syria in an eight-ship formation with a fellow PAF pilot and the Flight Leader, Squadron Leader Arif Manzoor.

Alvi came to worldwide international notice when he shot down the IAF's Mirage IIICJ flown by Captain M. Lutz. On 26 April 1974, while on an aerial patrol, the PAF fighter pilot team, including, Flight Lieutenant  Sattar Alvi, Squadron Leader  Saleem Metla, and the formation's leader -Squadron Leader Arif Manzoor had an encounter over the Golan Heights between a Mig-21 of the Syrian Air Force and two Israeli Mirages.

While leading a Mig-21 patrol along the border, Squadron Leader Arif Manzoor was apprised of the presence of two Israeli Phantom aircraft and was cautioned that these could be decoys while two other fast tracks, approaching from the opposite direction, might be the real threat. The latter turned out to be Mirages and a

moment later Alvi, in Arif's formation, saw the No 2 Mirage breaking towards him. All this time, heavy radio jamming by Israeli ground stations was making things difficult but the Pakistani pilots were used to such tactics. He managed to shoot down the jet piloted by Captain Lutz while the wingman quickly disengaged.

Flight Lieutenant Sattar Alavi with his Syrian MiG 21 in Golan

Pakistan and Israel continued to engage in covert conflicts against each other. When Mossad failed to prevent the Pakistani Nuclear Program and the globally dubbed "Islamic Bomb", a plan to bomb Pakistan Nuclear Facilities in Kahuta was authorized by the Israeli High Command with Indian approval and support.

Indira Gandhi was hankering to take out Kahuta. She had ordered the Indian Army and Air Force to prepare plans for attacking Pakistan’s enrichment plant. She witnessed an army-air force demonstration featuring a mock attack on Kahuta. The Indians contemplated a joint Indo-Israeli surgical strike on Kahuta but chickened out when the Israelis demanded refueling facilities at the Jamnagar air force station, in India’s Gujarat state.

Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, discovered the plan and prepared retaliatory measures. Pakistani F-16s did not have the fuel capacity to carry out bombing missions in Israel and return; hence a one-way suicidal mission was conceived. Finally, the Indo-Israeli plan to bomb Kahuta was aborted.

So, what about the second pilot?

If indeed an Israeli pilot was captured by Pakistan on 27^th February, where could he be? Following possibilities can be considered?

1.     He is still in Pakistan’s custody, awaiting a package deal with the US.

2.     A deal has already been struck and he has already been repatriated to Israel.

                     Lutz' Flying Jacket in PAF Museum

 

Saleem Akhtar Malik