In everyone's impression, the Soviet Air Force in the Cold War was definitely a very strong force. In many battles of the Soviet Air Force, it can be said that there were few opponents, and even the United States Air Force was defeated in front of the Soviet Air Force many times. But in May 1986, a Pakistani F16 fighter jet shot down two Soviet fighters in a row in 40 seconds, and in the ensuing battle, 14 Soviet fighters were shot down by Pakistan. It can be said that it became the most lost combat experience of the Soviet Air Force in the Cold War. Why did Pakistan come to conflict with the Soviet Union? And by what means did the Pakistan Air Force achieve air victory? Today, let's explore the most secret air combat in the Cold War.
In 1979, Soviet troops marched into Afghanistan, and during this invasion, U.S. interests were seriously damaged. So it has been tripping the Soviet Union. Organizations with American support added to the Soviet Union's presence in Afghanistan. But pakistan was really terrified of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets' attack on Afghanistan was to establish a pro-Soviet regime in Central Asia that could control neighboring countries, with Pakistan next to Afghanistan. In fact, at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the real goal of the Soviet Union was Pakistan. Ustinov, then chief of staff of the Soviet Union, once formulated a solution to the Central Asian problem. That is, to skip Afghanistan directly, to attack Pakistan, and to establish a pro-Soviet Balochistan republic. At that time, after this news was announced, global public opinion was in an uproar.
So Pakistan began to assist the United States in supporting anti-Soviet guerrillas in Afghanistan. Since then, Pakistan and the United States have entered a ten-year period of cooperation. At that time, the Soviet air force often took off from Afghanistan and then carried out wild bombings on Pakistani territory. The Soviet Air Force stationed four powerful aviation regiments in Afghanistan. These include MiG-21 fighters, MiG-23 fighters and Su-22 fighter-bombers, among others. These equipment was very stressful for the Pakistan Air Force at that time. More importantly, the Soviet Union, with the idea that the enemy of the enemy is a friend, gave India a lot of aid, which made Pakistan's defense pressure rise sharply. In the previous India-Pakistani conflicts, Pakistan basically lost, and now the Soviet Air Force is directly suppressing the territory, if in the next conflict is caught between two sides, then Pakistan may be really dangerous.
Beginning in 1981, Soviet Air Force fighter jets began operating on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Soviet Air Force directly bombed the Afghan private sector in Pakistan, which caused an uproar in international public opinion. But soon, the Soviet Union came up with a series of intelligence, indicating that in the refugee camps in Pakistan, a large amount of guerrilla materials were stored and that guerrillas were trained, all of which were the fault of Pakistan. Pakistan, however, has been truly violating its sovereignty. But he did not have enough ability to fight back. At that time, Pakistan's air force was mainly J-6 fighters and Mirage III fighters from France. Both aircraft were at the end of their service in the 1980s. The combination of first-generation and second-generation aircraft was simply unable to cope with the advanced fighters of the Soviet Union. Although the Soviet Army stationed in Afghanistan was not its most advanced unit, the MiG-21 was still much stronger than the MiG-19.
Seeing that Pakistan was so depressed, the United States decided to lend a helping hand to Pakistan. This was, of course, not a sudden conscience discovery by the United States, but out of the consideration of containing the Soviet Union, and at the same time it could make a lot of money by selling arms to Pakistan. So in December 1981, Pakistan officially ordered 40 F16 fighter jets from the United States. The United States immediately made a big move and agreed to the export order, which is the most advanced third-generation fighter jet in the United States. The Sidewinder missile above has also been optimized to target the shortcomings of the MiG-21 specifically against high-altitude high-speed fighters such as the MiG-21. Beginning in 1985, Pakistan began to deploy F16 fighter jets in areas adjacent to Afghanistan, and under the guidance of U.S. instructors, began to familiarize itself with such fighters. But the Soviets still believed that Pakistan's air force training level could not be compared with its own. So on May 17, 1986, the Soviet Union again dispatched four Su-22 fighter-bombers to begin bombing refugee camps in Pakistan.
At that time, two pakistani pilots received the news of the Soviet Air Force's dispatch and immediately flew two F16 fighter jets to intercept. Two Soviet fighter jets had flown back into Afghanistan. Two more did not find their targets and were still wandering. Two Pakistani majors immediately found enemy aircraft through ground radar. Soon, two fighters appeared in their field of vision, the nose air intake, and at the same time there was a variable swept wing, which was the Su-22 in intelligence. The Su-22 was a fighter-bomber in Soviet service, which had a considerable bomb load and supersonic capabilities, but its air combat capabilities were very mediocre, essentially a bomber that could fight. After seeing two Pakistani fighter jets lock themselves in and fire missiles. The Su-22 immediately pulled the swept wing to the end, and then made an emergency jump, and the Sidewinder missile flew over the belly and did not hit.
Just then, however, two F16 fighter jets chased after them. Major Jared piloted the fighter jet in a sledgehammer maneuver in the air. Immediately afterwards, they swooped down on the enemy fighters, and the Soviet fighters did not back down, but rushed directly at him, trying to attack head-on. But Major Jared dodged the attack with his more maneuverability, and the four fighters fought in the air. The longer it dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for Soviet fighters. Soviet fighters have exhausted their energy in the fight, and the F16 has a lot more energy, which is the advantage of the third-generation fighter. soon. Major Jared once again locked on to the Su-22, and at very close range a Sidewinder missile occurred, which flew towards a Soviet fighter and hit an enemy aircraft. Then, while another Soviet fighter was circumventing the missiles, it appeared directly in front of jared fighters, who immediately made a decision and immediately fired another missile to shoot it down. During this air clash, Major Jared killed two Su-22 fighters in 40 seconds. Showed quite extraordinary courage and tactics. Immediately after he landed, he received the Crescent Medal of Excellence from his superiors. Became a fighting hero in Pakistan.
In the ensuing air battle, the F16 fighter made many achievements. From the time the Soviets began bombing across the Pakistani border to the final withdrawal from Afghanistan, a total of 14 Soviet military aircraft were shot down. These included two Su-25 attack aircraft, two An-26 transport aircraft, four MiG-23 fighters and five Su-22 fighters. At the same time, an An-24 reconnaissance plane that came to reconnoiter was also shot down by Pakistan's F16. In the past air battles, the fighters of the Pakistan Air Force have shown very excellent combat performance. The reason why these fighters can play such a powerful performance is thanks to the excellent pilots of the Pakistan Air Force. Since then, Pakistan has been very attentive to the training of pilots, and has trained many air killers. In the subsequent battles with India, it repeatedly shot down Indian fighters, which made the Indian Air Force feel frightened.
After air battles with the Soviet Union, the Pakistan Air Force built confidence and the haze of the previous India-Pakistani conflict was swept away. Since then, the Pakistan Air Force has made many achievements in subsequent battles, whether it is the F16 fighter or the later main fighter, Raiden. The current Pakistan Air Force is already a force to be reckoned with in South Asia.