Minhas Airbase or Kamra Airbase is a
PAF Airbase located at
Kamra,
Attock District,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, Pakistan. It was named in the honour of
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas ( ur, ) was a Pakistani pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. Minhas was the only PAF officer to receive the highest valour award, the Nishan-e-Haider. He was also the youngest person and the shortest-serving officer ...
, who was awarded the
Nishan-e-Haider
Nishan-e-Haider (NH; ), is the highest military gallantry award of Pakistan. The Nishan-e-Haider is awarded posthumously and only to members of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It recognises the highest acts of extraordinary bravery in the face of ...
for valor in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
.
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex ( ur, ), or PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer that is headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan.
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractor in ...
is located in ''Minhas Airbase'' which manufactures aircraft like
CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder
The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder ( ur , جے ایف-17 گرج), or FC-1 ''Xiaolong'' (), is a lightweight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, Chengdu Aircra ...
,
PAC MFI-17 Mushshak
The PAC MFI-17 Mushshak (Urdu: مشاق) (English: ''Proficient'') is a license-built fixed-gear basic trainer aircraft manufactered by PAC. An improved version of the Saab Safari (MFI-15), the MFI-17 is manufactured in Kamra, Pakistan by Pak ...
,
Hongdu JL-8
The Hongdu JL-8 (Nanchang JL-8), also known as the Karakorum-8 or K-8 for short, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and a light attack aircraft designed in the People's Republic of China by China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporatio ...
. It also rebuilds aircraft like the ''Dassault Mirage'' and ''Chengdu F-7''.
2012 terrorist attack
On 16 August 2012, nine
Tehrik-e-Taliban
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...
militants assaulted PAF Base Minhas at about 2 am. After a pitched battle all nine attackers were killed while two Pakistani security officials also died. The base commander, Air Commodore Muhammad Azam, was reported wounded in the attack as well.
[ The militants also destroyed one ]Saab 2000
The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and cruise at a speed of . Production took place in Linköping in southern Sweden. The Saab ...
Erieye
The Erieye radar system is an Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) developed by Saab Electronic Defence Systems (formerly Ericsson Microwave Systems) of Sweden. It uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology. The Er ...
plane and damaged one or two others.
See also
*Rashid Minhas
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas ( ur, ) was a Pakistani pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. Minhas was the only PAF officer to receive the highest valour award, the Nishan-e-Haider. He was also the youngest person and the shortest-serving officer ...
References
External links
Airport information for Minhas Airbase
at World Aero Data
Pakistan Air Force bases
Attock District
Military installations in Punjab, Pakistan
{{Pakistan-airport-stub