No. 27 Squadron PAF

No. 27 Squadron Zarrars
Logo of the squadron
Active2007 - Present
Country Pakistan
Allegiance Pakistan Armed Forces
Branch Pakistan Air Force
RoleTactical Attack
Part of
AirbasePAF Base Rafiqui
Nickname(s)Zarrars
Motto(s)دو نیم ان کی ٹھوکر سے صحرا و دریا
(Persian for 'The desert and the river from their stumble')
AircraftDassault Mirage 5F ROSE-III
Engagements
Insignia
Patch
Mirage Aircraft of the squadron

The No. 27 Squadron, nicknamed Zarrars, is a tactical attack squadron from the No. 34 Wing of the Pakistan Air Force's Northern Air Command. It is currently deployed at Rafiqui Airbase and operates the Dassault Mirage-VEF ROSE-III aircraft. [1][2][3][4]

History

The squadron was formally raised on 19 April 2007 at PAF Base Rafiqui and equipped with the upgraded Dassault Mirage-5EF ROSE-III combat aircraft. The first Officer Commanding (OC) was Wing Commander Shafqat Mushtaq and the first Senior Engineering Officer was Squadron Leader Najam-ul-Hasnain.[5][6][7]

Operational history

War On Terror

Main articles: War on terror and Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

After the spillover of militants & terrorists from Afghanistan into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during the US invasion, The Zarrars were tasked to carry out air strikes throughout the former FATA & NWFP regions. In FATA, it took part in Operation Khwakh Ba De Sham and Operation Rah-e-Nijat supporting the army and local law enforcement.[4]

As part of Operation Burq in 2009, the squadron carried out heavy air strikes on TTP positions in Swat valley in support of the army and local law enforcement's offensive.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "No. 27 Squadron". PakDef.info. Archived from the original on 2008-12-26.
  2. ^ "No. 27 Squadron PAF". GlobalSecurity.org.
  3. ^ a b Khan, Farhat; Hashmi, Qadeer (2024). History of the Pakistan Air Force (2014-2023): The Next Generation Air Force (1st ed.). pp. 285–286. ISBN 978-969-7518-01-2.
  4. ^ a b Hashmi, Qadeer. The History of the Pakistan Air Force 1999-2013. p. 304.
  5. ^ "New Fighter Squadron added to Pakistan Air Force". Pakistan Times. April 4, 2007. Archived from the original on July 7, 2007.
  6. ^ "PAF gets fighter squadron". Dawn. 20 April 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  7. ^ "No. 27 Squadron "Zarrars"". PakDef.info. Archived from the original on 2008-12-26.