PAF Base Masroor is the largest airbase operated by the

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

. It is located in the

Mauripur Maripur or Mauripur ( ur, ماری پور ) is a village to the west of Karachi, Pakistan, near Hawke's Bay Beach. Air Force Base PAF Base Masroor is the largest airbase operated by the Pakistan Air Force. It is located in the Mauripur area o ...

area of

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 ...

, in the

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 ...

province. The base was originally known as RPAF Station Mauripur and after 1956, as PAF Station Mauripur.

PAF Base Faisal Pakistan Air Force Base Faisal ( ur, ), founded as RAF Drigh Road, now called Shahrah-e-Faisal. This air force base is located at Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. In 1975, it was named after the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the site of PA ...

is the other Pakistan Air Force base in Karachi. 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.

History

The airbase at Mauripur was established by Britain (Royal Indian Air Force, RIAF) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1940–1941. On establishment of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) the base became RPAF Station Mauripur. PAF Base Mauripur was renamed PAF Base Masroor in honour of former Base Commander, Air Commodore Masroor Hussain, who died in June 1967 due to a bird strike on his aircraft. He managed to direct the burning aircraft away from a populated area before crashing.

Features

Masroor base has the distinction of not only being the largest base, area wise, in Pakistan but also in Asia. Before

Karachi Airport Jinnah International Airport ( ur, جناح بین الاقوامی ہوائی اڈا) , formerly Drigh Road Airport or Karachi Civil Airport, is Pakistan's busiest international and domestic airport, and handled 7,267,582 passengers in 2017� ...

, this airport had been used for domestic flights and also by

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

, the founder of Pakistan. It is of immense strategic importance considering it has been entrusted upon the task of defending the coastal and Southern region of Pakistan. It houses the 32 Tactical Attack (TA) Wing which comprises six separate squadrons. squadrons include No 2 MR squadron operating JF-17C Block 2s, No 4 AWACS Squadron operating Karakoram Eagle AWACS, No 7 TA Squadron operating Mirage 3 ROSE 1, No 8 TA Squadron operating Mirage 5PA2/3, No 22 OCU operating Mirage 3EL/D and No 84 CSS operating AW-139 Seahawk CSAR helicopters. Base is also home to College of Aviation safety management and Tactical Air Support school (TASS).Pakistan Air Force Bases (list includes PAF Base Masroor)
nuke.fas.org website, Retrieved 4 October 2021

References

External links

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) official website
Pakistan Air Force bases Airports in Karachi Military installations in Karachi {{Pakistan-airport-stub

History

Features

See also

References

External links