The Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) was established on 14 August 1947 with the independence of Pakistan from British raj. The Royal Pakistan Air Force RPAF began with 2,332 personnel, a fleet of 24 Tempest II fighter-bombers, 16 Hawker Typhoon fighters, two H.P.57 Halifax bombers, 2 Austeraircraft, twelve North American Harvard trainers and ten de Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes. It also got eight C-47 Dakota cargo planes which it used to transport supplies to soldiers fighting in the 1947 War in Kashmir against India. However, it never received all the planes it was allotted at the time of independence of South Asia. It started with 7 operational airbases scattered all over the provinces.
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JF-17 Pakistan Air Force |
Operating these inherited aircraft was far from ideal in Pakistan's diverse terrains, deserts and mountains; frequent attrition and injuries did not make the situation any better. However, by 1948 the air force acquired better aircraft such as the Hawker Sea Fury fighter-bomber and the Bristol Freighter. These new aircraft gave a much-needed boost to the morale and combat capability of the Royal Pakistan Air Force; 93 Hawker Fury and roughly 50-70 Bristol Freighter aircraft were inducted into the RPAF by 1950.
Although the Royal Pakistan Air Force had little funds to use and markets to choose from, it entered the jet age quite early.
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Pakistan Air Force 1947 To 1950 |