PAF Base Masroor is the largest airbase operated by the
Pakistan Air Force. 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, 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 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 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
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
See also
* List of Pakistan Air Force Bases
This is a list of air bases of the Pakistan Air Force. There are a total of 32 air bases, which are classified into two categories: flying bases and non-flying bases. Flying bases are operational bases from which aircraft operate during peacetim ...
* List of airports in Pakistan
* Masroor Colony
References
External links
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) official website
Pakistan Air Force bases
Airports in Karachi
Military installations in Karachi
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