The Indo-Pakistani air war of 1965 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred after the failure of Operation Gibraltar in Jammu and Kashmir on 1 September 1965. Pakistan Air Force under Operation Grand Slam and Indian Airforce under Operation Riddle engaged with each other with the last aerial combat taking place on 23 September 1965.

The sides claimed various numbers of kills and casualties. India claims to have lost 35–59 aircraft while Pakistan claims to have destroyed 110–113; neutral sources claim that India lost 60–75 aircraft. Pakistan claims to have lost 19 aircraft while India claims 42–73 kills;The Sunday Tribune – Spectrum. Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-14. neutral sources say Pakistan lost 20 aircraft.

Aerial victories

The following lists contains aerial victories credited to both Indian as well as Pakistani pilots. + +PilotPilot‘s Squadron CountryDateFighter TypeVictim PilotVictim Pilot‘s Squadron Victim AircraftRemarksSqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed RafiquiNo. 5 Squadron PAFPakistan1 Sep Air War over ChumbF-86Flt Lt Shrikrishna Vishnu Phatak (wingman) No. 45 Squadron IAFde Havilland VampirePhatak bailed out, Rafiqui awarded Sitara-e-JuratSqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed RafiquiNo. 5 Squadron PAFPakistan1 Sep Air War over ChumbF-86Squadron Leader Aspi Kekobad Bhagwagar (flight leader)No. 45 Squadron IAFde Havilland VampireBhagwagar KIAFlt Lt Imtiaz BhattiNo. 15 Squadron PAFPakistan1 Sep Air War over ChumbF-86Flight Lieutenant Satish Bharadwaj (element wingman) No. 45 Squadron IAFde Havilland VampireBharadwaj KIAFlt Lt Imtiaz BhattiNo. 15 Squadron PAFPakistan1 Sep Air War over ChumbF-86Flight Lieutenant Vijay Madhav Joshi (element leader) No. 45 Squadron IAFde Havilland VampireJoshi KIA Bhatti awarded Sitara-e-JuratSqn Ldr Trevor KeelorNo. 23 Squadron IAFIndia3 Sep Air War over Chicken's Neck (Pakistan) AkhnoorFolland GnatFlt Lt Yousuf Ali Khan No. 11 Squadron PAFF-86Trevor awarded 1st Vir Chakra of war. Khan awarded Sitara-e-Jurat for surviving the dogfight against six Gnats and nursing the damaged Sabre back home.Flt Lt Virendera Singh PathaniaNo. 23 Squadron IAFIndia4 Sep Air War over Chicken's Neck (Pakistan) AkhnoorFolland Gnat Flt Lt N.M ButtNo. 15 Squadron PAFF-86Butt bailed out, Pathania awarded the Vir Chakra.Indian Air Force awards Flt Lt Hakimullah Khan DurraniNo. 9 Squadron PAFPakistan4 Sep PasrurLockheed F-104 StarfighterSqn Ldr Brij Pal Singh SikandNo. 23 Squadron IAFFolland GnatStarfighter forced the Gnat to land mistakenly at an abandoned airstrip. Durrani awarded Tamgha-e-Diffa and Sitara-e-Basalat"1965 War, Chapter 3." bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved: 4 November 2010.Sqn Ldr MM Alam / Syed Saad Akhtar HatmiNo. 11 Squadron PAF / No. 18 Squadron PAFPakistan 6 Sep Taran TaranF-86Sqn Ldr Peter RawleyNo. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterAborted Halwara base attack at Taran Taran, Rawley misjudged his turn at low levels during the engagement and went into the ground, KIA. Hatmi awarded the kill disputed by Alam.Flg Offr Adi Rustomji GhandhiNo. 7 Squadron IAFIndia6 Sep Halwara Air Force StationHawker HunterSqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed RafiquiNo. 5 Squadron PAFF-86Vir Chakra awarded to Ghandhi for hitting Rafiqui and another plane.Flt Lt Yunus HussainNo. 5 Squadron PAFPakistan6 Sep Halwara Air Force StationF86Fg Offr Adi Rustomji GhandhiNo. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterGhandhi bailed out, Yunus's kill disputed by Cecil ChaudhrySqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed RafiquiNo. 5 Squadron PAFIndia6 Sep Halwara Air Force StationF-86Flg Offr Air Marshal Prakash Sadashivrao PingaleNo. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterPingale bailed outFlg Off Vinod NebNo. 27 Squadron IAFIndia6 Sep Halwara Air Force StationHawker HunterFlt Lt Yunus HussainNo. 5 Squadron PAFF-86Yunus posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, Neb awarded Vir ChakraFlt Lt Dev Nath Rathore No. 27 Squadron IAFIndia6 Sep Halwara Air Force StationHawker HunterSqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed RafiquiNo. 5 Squadron PAFF-86Rafiqui posthumously awarded Hilal-e-Jurat, Rathore awarded Vir Chakra.Sqn Ldr Ajjamada B. DevaiahNo. 1 Squadron IAFIndia7 Sep Sargodha Airfield ComplexDassault Mystère IVFlt Lt Amjad HussainNo. 9 Squadron PAFLockheed F-104 StarfighterBoth planes crashed, Devaiah KIA awarded Mahavir Chakra 23 years after war.Sqn Ldr MM AlamNo. 11 Squadron PAFPakistan7 Sep Sargodha Airfield ComplexF-86Flt Lt ‘Piloo’ KackerNo. 27 Squadron IAFHawker HunterKill disputed, crashed due to ack, ack fuel loss, Kacker became POWFlt Lt Anwar-ul-Haq MalikNo. 26 Squadron PAFPakistan7 Sep Sargodha Airfield ComplexF-86 AAMsFlt Lt U.Babul GuhaNo. 1 Squadron IAFDassault Mystère IVKIASqn Ldr MM AlamNo. 11 Squadron PAFPakistan7 Sep Sargodha Airfield ComplexF-86Sqn Ldr S C BhagwatNo. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterKIA Alam conferred Sitara-e-Jurat, Tamgha-e-Diffa, Sitara-e-ImtiazSqn Ldr MM AlamNo. 11 Squadron PAFPakistan7 Sep Sargodha Airfield ComplexF-86Fg Offr Jagdev Singh BrarNo. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterBrar KIAFlt Lt Alfred Tyrone CookeNo. 14 Squadron IAFIndia7 Sep Kalaikunda Air Force StationHawker HunterFlying officer Afzal KhanNo. 14 Squadron PAFF-86Khan KIA, Cooke awarded Vir ChakraFg Offr Subodh Chandra Mamgain No. 14 Squadron IAFIndia 7 Sep Kalaikunda Air Force StationHawker Hunter Flight Lieutenant Tariq Habib (Leader)No. 14 Squadron PAF F-86 Mamgain awarded Vir Chakra for one hit and one unconfirmed kill.Flt Lt Yousuf Ali KhanNo. 11 Squadron PAFPakistan13 Sep Katron, SangroorF-86Flt Lt Arvind KaleNo. 2 Squadron IAFFolland GnatKale bailed out. pages=240–241Flt Lt Imtiaz BhattiNo. 15 Squadron PAFPakistan13 Sep PAF Base SargodhaF-86Sqn Ldr N K MalikNo. 2 Squadron IAFFolland GnatPilot nursed Gnat back to India but died next day, Bhatti awarded with hit page=150Sqn Ldr Bharat SinghNo. 2 Squadron IAFIndia 14 Sep Khem Karan SectorFolland GnatUnidentifiedF-86Indian Army confirmed wreckage and Singh awarded Vir Chakra, PAF pilot nursed hit plane safely to ground.Flg Offr Prakash Sadashivrao PingaleNo. 7 Squadron IAFIndia16 SepHawker HunterFg Offr M ShaukatNo. 11 Squadron PAFF-86Pingale awarded Vir ChakraSqn Ldr MM AlamNo. 11 Squadron PAFPakistan16 SepF-86Flg Offr Farokh Dara BunshaNo. 7 Squadron IAF Hawker HunterBunsha KIAFlt Lt Amar Jit Singh SandhuNo. 23 Squadron IAFIndia18 Sep Pathankot Air Force StationFolland GnatFlt Lt Syed Saad Akhtar HatmiNo. 18 Squadron PAFF-86Sandhu awarded Vir Chakra Hatmi bailed out and awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, flew the captured plane to Sargodha from Pasrur. Flt Lt Saiful Azam Bangladesh Air Force (BAF)No. 17 Squadron PAFPakistan 19 SepSargodha Airfield ComplexF-86Flt Lt Maya Dev No. 9 Squadron IAFFolland GnatDev bailed out and became POW, Azam awarded Sitara-e-JuratFlt Lt Denzil KeelorNo. 9 Squadron IAFIndia19 Sep Tezpur Air Force StationFolland GnatWg Cdr Syed Mohammad Ahmed No. 14 Squadron PAFF-86Ahmad bailed out, Keelor awarded Vir Chakra Ahmed awarded Sitara-i-BasalatFlt Lt Ajay Kumar Mazumdar No. 2 Squadron IAFIndia 20 Sep Lahore Folland Gnat Flt Lt Anwar-ul-Haq Malik No. 26 Squadron PAFF-86PAF pilot bailed out. Mazumdar awarded Vir ChakraSquadron Leader Sharbat Ali ChangeziNo. 26 Squadron PAFPakistan20 Sep LahoreF-86Squadron Leader S K Sharma No. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterSharma bailed out Changezi awarded Tamgha-e-BasalatFlt Lt Syed Nazir Ahmed Jilani No. 26 Squadron PAFPakistan20 Sep Lahore F-86Squadron Leader Deba Prasad ChatterjeeNo. 7 Squadron IAFHawker HunterChatterjee KIA Jilani awarded Tamgha-e-BasalatFlt Lt Jamal A. KhanNo. 9 Squadron PAFPakistan21 Sep FazilkaLockheed F-104 Starfighter Sidewinder AIM-9BFlt Lt Manmohan Lowe Fg Offr Kewal Krishan KapurNo. 5 Squadron IAFEnglish Electric CanberraLowe bailed out, Kapur KIA, Afridi awarded Sitara-e-Jurat

+Indian AircraftCountry of origin Aérospatiale Alouette IIIBréguet Br.1050 AlizéDassault Mystère IVde Havilland VampireEnglish Electric CanberraFolland GnatHawker HunterHAL HF-24 MarutHAL KrishakMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21FLSukhoi Su-7BMK

+Pakistan AircraftCountry of originCanadair SabreCessna O-1 Bird DogDassault Mirage IIILockheed F-104 StarfighterNorth American F-86 SabreShenyang F6C

Notes

References