Fighter jets still flying in Pakistan
In 1967, the “Blue Flash I” arms procurement program was officially launched. Under this program, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) acquired a total of 24 Mirage aircraft, which included 18 Mirage IIIEP fighters fitted with Cyrano radars (serial numbers 101–118), 3 Mirage IIIRP reconnaissance variants (serial numbers 201–203), and 3 Mirage IIIDP two-seat trainer jets (serial numbers 301–303).
All 24 Mirage IIIs were assigned to the No. 5 “Falcon” Squadron. This squadron operated these veteran Mirage jets starting from 1968 and did not switch to new aircraft until the F-16C/D Block 52 was delivered to it in 2010, marking a 42-year service period with the type.
To date, only 3 Mirage IIIDP two-seat trainers from the original “Blue Flash I” batch remain in active service within the PAF inventory: Aircraft 67-301 and 67-302 are serving with the No. 7 “Bandit” Squadron, while Aircraft 67-303 (as shown in Figures 13–14) underwent the ROSE II/III upgrade during a major overhaul and is now attached to the No. 25 “Night Strike Eagle” Squadron.
These three aircraft are the oldest fighter jets in the PAF fleet, boasting a remarkable service age of 56 years as of now
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Since 1967, Pakistan has imported a total of the Mirage IIIRP, Mirage IIIEP, Mirage IIIDP, Mirage IIIO, and Mirage IIID variants
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Addendum: Also included are the Mirage IIIEL and Mirage IIIEE variants.
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The initial armament configuration of Pakistan’s Mirage IIIs was comparable to that of the Mirage IIIE on the French tech tree, with subsequent upgrades rolled out under the ROSE I program.
The ROSE I initiative equipped the aircraft with new airborne radars and enabled compatibility with a new generation of American air-to-air missiles, Pakistani TV-guided bombs, South African powered infrared-guided glide bombs, as well as Chinese air-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles.
For instance:
- The original pylons designed for the R550 missiles were further adapted to carry the AIM-9L, AIM-9M and PL-7;
- The pylons for the R530 missiles were made compatible with the AIM-7M and South African powered infrared-guided glide bombs;
- The hardpoints originally reserved for external fuel tanks could now mount Pakistani TV-guided bombs and Chinese guided bombs.
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Pakistan serves as a sub-tree under China in the game, much like how Thai vehicles are categorized under Japan on the forum. So this setup is perfectly acceptable.
But still need to send suggestions in the suggestion area - other aircraft
ok
If you want to make posts like these, may I suggest using spoilers, they can make posts more compact and readable.
There should be an option for “hide details”, click it and replace “this text will be hidden” for whatever text and images you want