Abbas Khattak

Air Chief Marshal Mohammad Abbas Khattak NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) SBt (Urdu: عباس خٹک ; born: 16 July 1943) is a four-star rank air force general in the Pakistan Air Force who tenured as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) from 8 November 1994 until 7 November 1997.[3][4]

Air Chief Marshal
Abbas Khattak
NI(M)  HI(M)  SI(M)  SBt
عباس خٹک
Chief of Air Staff
In office
8 November 1994 – 7 November 1997
Preceded byACM Farooq Feroze Khan
Succeeded byACM Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi
President of Pakistan Squash Federation
In office
1997–1998
Personal details
Born
Mohammad Abbas Khattak

(1943-07-16) 16 July 1943
Jehangira, NWFP in British Sub continent
(Present-day in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan)
NicknameMuhammad Abbas Khattak
Military service
Allegiance Pakistan
Branch/service Pakistan Air Force
Years of service1960 – 1997
Rank Air Chief Marshal
UnitNo. 19 Squadron[1]
(S/No. PAK/4385: 430 [2])
Commands
Battles/wars
Awards

Biography

Abbas Khattak was born in Peshawar, NWFP on 16 July 1943.: 355 [5] He was educated at the Cadet College Hasan Abdal, and joined the Pakistan Air Force in 1960, from which he was directed to attend the famed Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur.: 355 [5] He passed out with the class of 35th GD(P), and gained commission on 20 January 1963 in No. 19 Squadron Sherdils.[1]: 355 [5]

P/Off. Khattak was trained to fly the F-86 Sabre and took participation in the various combat missions during the second war with India in 1965.[1] During this time, F/Off. was among the eight fighter pilots who were selected to take part in famous aerial raid on Pathankot Air Force Station in India, a squadron commanded by then-Squadron-Leader Sajjad Haider.: 488–489 [6]: 122 [7] In 1970–71, Sq-Ldr. Khattak was posted with the Eastern Command in East-Pakistan, leading several mission against the Indian Air Force but was reposted in Sargodha Air Force Base before his country's surrender in Eastern Front of the third war with India in 1971.: 69 [8]

After the war, Wg-Cdr. Khattak was directed to attend the war course at the National Defence University in Islamabad.[9]

In 1988, Air-Commodore Khattak was appointed as AOC of the Southern Air Command, serving until 1990.: 48 [10] In 1991, AVM Khattak was posted to the Air Headquarters (AHQ) in Islamabad as DCAS (Training), where he played a pioneering role in aviation and flight safety programs.: 327 [11] In 1994, Air-Marshal Khattak was promoted to DCAS (Operations) at AHQ.: 206 [12]

Chief of Air Staff

On 8 November 1994, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto approved the promotion papers of Air-Mshl. Khattak to be promoted to the four-star rank, Air Chief Marshal. This promotion was controversial since Air-Mshl. Khattak superseded two senior air officers: Air-Mshl. Shafique Haider (the Vice Chief of the Air Staff), and Air-Mshl. Dlavar Hussain (Chairman PAC).: 49–50 [13] The reason this appointment was highly controversial is because the departing Chief of Air Staff Farooq Feroze Khan struck a deal behind closed doors with Benazir and Zardari to appoint him as the Joint Chief of Staff and in exchange he would allow Zardari to promote Khattak as the Chief of Air Staff. Khattak and Zardari have been accused of receiving millions of dollars in kickback from a Mirage deal.[14]

During his tenureship as air chief, ACM Khattak made attempts to acquire the Mirage-2000 from Qatar but vetoed the acquisition of MiG-29F and the Su-27 aircraft from the Eastern Europe, despite the strong backing of the then-Chairman joint chiefs, ACM Feroze Khan, due to their poor war performances.: 58–60 [15] During his tenure, Pakistan worked with China to develop the K-8 Karakorum.[16] After his retirement he was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal PQ Mehdi.

He is married and has two sons.[9]

Awards and decorations
PAF GD(P) Badge RED (More than 3000 Flying Hours)
Nishan-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Order of Excellence)

 Hilal-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Crescent of Excellence)

Sitara-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Star of Excellence)

 Sitara-e-Basalat

(Star of Good Conduct)

 Tamgha-e-Diffa

(General Service Medal)

 Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War

(War Star 1965)

Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War

(War Star 1971)

 Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War

(War Medal 1965)

 Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War

(War Medal 1971)

 10 Years Service Medal
20 Years Service Medal 30 Years Service Medal Tamgha-e-Sad Saala Jashan-e-

Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam

(100th Birth Anniversary of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

1976

 Hijri Tamgha

(Hijri Medal)

1979

Jamhuriat Tamgha

(Democracy Medal)

1988

 Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha

(Resolution Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990

 Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan

(Independence Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1997

 The Order of Military Merit

(Grand Cordon)

(Jordan)

Foreign Decorations
Foreign Awards
 Jordan The Order of Military Merit (Grand Cordon)

See also

References
  1. "Feats of Courage". www.paf.gov.pk. ISPR (Air Force Division). Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. Pakistan (1980). The Gazette of Pakistan. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  3. The Story of the Pakistan Air Force 1988-1998: A Battle Against Odds (Oxford University Press, 2000)
  4. Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2002). The Armed Forces of Pakistan:Air Chiefs. New York University Press. pp. 199/200. ISBN 0-8147-1633-4.
  5. Shaikh, A. Rashid (2000). The Story of the Pakistan Air Force, 1988-1998: A Battle Against Odds (google books) (1st ed.). Karachi, Sindh, Pk.: Shaheen Foundation. p. 414. ISBN 9789698553005. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. Bhattacharya, Brigadier Samir (2013). NOTHING BUT! (googlebooks). Partridge Publishing. ISBN 9781482816266. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  7. Mohan, P. V. S. Jagan; Chopra, Samir (2005). The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965. Manohar. ISBN 9788173046414. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  8. Hussaini, Syed Masood Akhtar; Affairs, Pakistan Air Force Directorate of Media (2002). Pakistan Air Force over the years. Directorate of Media Affairs, Pakistan Air Force. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  9. Niaz, Anjum (22 November 2008). "ISLAMABAD DATELINE: Top Gun Vs Double Agents". Dawn Newspaper. Islamabad: Dawn Media Group. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  10. Shaheen: Journal of the Pakistan Air Force. Air Headquarters. 1988. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  11. Jane's Defence Weekly. Jane's Publishing Company. July 1991. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  12. Siddiqa-Agha, A. (2001). Pakistan's Arms Procurement and Military Buildup, 1979-99: In Search of a Policy. Springer. ISBN 9780230513525. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  13. Globe. Afzal Mahmood. 1994. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  14. former Air Force employee
  15. Air Force Chief says that F-16s "Not Indispensable". Daily Report: Near East & South Asia, The Service. 1994. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  16. Asia Pacific Defense Forum Spring 1998 Archived 28 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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