Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admi ...

Mohammad Abbas Khattak ( ur, ; born: 16 July 1943) is a four-star rank

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

who tenured as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) from 8 November 1994 until 7 November 1997.

Biography

Abbas Khattak was born in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, NWFP on 16 July 1943. He was educated at the

Cadet College Hasan Abdal Cadet College, Hasan Abdal (CCH) Urdu/Pashto :کیدت کالج/کیڈٹ کالج حسن ابدال is a residential secondary school located in Hasan Abdal, Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan. The college has over 500 enrolled students aged 13 ...

, and joined the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

in 1960, from which he was directed to attend the famed Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur. He passed out with the class of 35th GD( P), and gained commission on 20 January 1963 in No. 19 Squadron ''Sherdils''. P/Off. Khattak was trained to fly the

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

and took participation in the various combat missions during the second war with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in 1965. During this time, F/Off. was among the eight fighter pilots who were selected to take part in famous aerial raid on

Pathankot Air Force Station Pathankot Airport is a regional airport, 3 km from the nearest city Pathankot and 7 km from Pathankot Railway Station Pathankot Junction railway station (station code: PTK) is a located in Pathankot district in the Indian state ...

in India, a squadron commanded by then- Squadron-Leader Sajjad Haider. In 1970–71, Sq-Ldr. Khattak was posted with the Eastern Command in East-Pakistan, leading several mission against the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct ...

but was reposted in Sargodha Air Force Base before his country's

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

in Eastern Front of the third war with

in 1971. After the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, Wg-Cdr. Khattak was directed to attend the war course at the National Defence University in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

. In 1988, Air-Commodore Khattak was appointed as

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

of the Southern Air Command, serving until 1990. In 1991, AVM Khattak was posted to the Air Headquarters (AHQ) in Islamabad as DCAS (Training), where he played a pioneering role in aviation and flight safety programs. In 1994, Air-Marshal Khattak was promoted to DCAS (Operations) at AHQ.

Chief of Air Staff

On 8 November 1994,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

approved the promotion papers of Air-Mshl. Khattak to be promoted to the four-star rank,

. This promotion was controversial since Air-Mshl. Khattak superseded two senior

air officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth nations ...

s: Air-Mshl. Shafique Haider (the Vice Chief of the Air Staff), and Air-Mshl. Dlavar Hussain (

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

PAC). The reason this appointment was highly controversial is because the departing Chief of Air Staff Farooq Feroze Khan struck a deal behind closed doors with Benazir and Zardari to appoint him as the Joint Chief of Staff and in exchange he would allow Zardari to promote Khattak as the Chief of Air Staff. Khattak and Zardari have been accused of receiving millions of dollars in kickback from a Mirage deal. During his tenureship as air chief, ACM Khattak made attempts to acquire the Mirage-2000 from

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

but vetoed the acquisition of MiG-29F and the Su-27 aircraft from the

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, despite the strong backing of the then- Chairman joint chiefs, ACM

Feroze Khan Feroze Khan ( ur, فیروز خان; born 11 July 1990) is a Pakistani actor, model and video jockey. who works in Urdu television. He made his acting debut with '' Bikhra Mera Naseeb'' as Harib and later on played various roles. Khan got his ...

, due to their poor war performances. During his tenure, Pakistan worked with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to develop the K-8 Karakorum.Asia Pacific Defense Forum Spring 1998
After his retirement he was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal PQ Mehdi. He is married and has two sons.

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links