Pakistan Air Force Base Faisal ( ur, ), founded as RAF Drigh Road, now called

Shahrah-e-Faisal Shahrah-e-Faisal, founded as Drigh Road, is a boulevard in Karachi that runs , from the Bhutto Underpass near Hotel Metropole in central Karachi, to Star Gate near Jinnah International Airport, where it becomes N-5 National Highway.

. This air force base is located at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, Pakistan. In 1975, it was named after the late King

Faisal of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فيصل بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود ''Fayṣal ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 14 April 1906 – 25 March 1975) was a Saudi Arabian statesman and diplomat who was ...

. It is the site of PAF's Southern Air Command HQ and

PAF Air War College PAF Air War College Institute is the Pakistan Air Force academic establishment providing training and education primarily to the mid-career officers of PAF as well as to limited number of officers from Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Army and officers ...

History

During the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, PAF Base Faisal was established in 1933 and was known as RAF Drigh Road. It was the first air force station in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and was the birthplace of the colonial-era Royal Indian Air Force, the PAF's parent force. The Royal Air Force mutiny of 1946 was a mutiny on dozens of Royal Air Force stations in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

in January 1946. The mutiny began at RAF Drigh Road, now known as PAF Base Faisal, and later spread to involve nearly 50,000 men over 60 RAF stations in British India and RAF bases as far as Singapore.

PAF Base Masroor PAF Base Masroor is the largest airbase operated by the Pakistan Air Force. It is located in the Mauripur area of Karachi, in the Sindh province. The base was originally known as RPAF Station Mauripur and after 1956, as PAF Station Mauripur. ...

is the other

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

base in

. The new

PAF Base Bholari Pakistan Air Force, PAF Base Bholari near the town of Bholari, located in Jamshoro District in Sindh Province, northeast of Karachi. It is one of Pakistan's most modern main operational bases which was inaugurated in December 2017. Construction of ...

near Karachi was inaugurated in January 2018.

Recent developments

It is currently the home of the

, preparing Pakistan Air Force junior officers who have already been marked for promotion for command and staff duties at the operational level. One of the facilities at PAF Base Faisal, the 102 Air Engineering depot, is responsible for the overhaul of

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

engines for the PAF's fleet of

Chengdu F-7 The Chengdu J-7 (Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a People's Republic of China fighter aircraft. It is a license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, and thus shares many simil ...

. The F-7 is a type of Chinese

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...

. On 4 July 2003 a ceremony was held to celebrate the roll-out of the 10,000th turbojet engine to be overhauled at the facility. The engine overhaul workshop was also upgraded to overhaul the newer WP-13F turbojet engines of the PAF's latest F-7 model, the F-7PG.

References

* Airports in Karachi Military installations in Karachi Pakistan Air Force bases World War II sites in India {{Pakistan-airport-stub

History

Recent developments

See also

References