Kaleem Saadat

On 20 February 2003, the PAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir died in a plane crash when the Fokker he, his wife and fifteen other high-ranking officers were flying in crashed near Kohat in northwestern Pakistan, killing all the passengers on board. Thereafter, the then vice chief, Air Marshal Syed Qaiser Hussain, was made the acting Air Chief of the PAF. On 19 March 2003, Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat, then deputy chief of air staff (personnel), was chosen over Hussain and Air Marshal Sarfraz Arshad Toor, air officer commanding, Air Defence Command (ADC), as the new chief of Pakistan Air Force.[1]

The JF-17 Thunder program under Kaleem Saadat was throttled into full gear. It was during this time that the aircraft prototype was unveiled; it flew some hours, with semi-production starting in 2005. The Air Headquarters were shifted to its permanent location in Islamabad after having stayed in Karachi, Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The PAF achieved its best Flight Safety record of its history when in the Year 2004, it had the lowest major aircraft accident rate. The PAF had the largest ever flying operations Exercise Highmark 2005 after nearly ten years' gap as well as holding its first ever tri-service wargame titled Tempest-I.

Saadat is a recipient of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Military), Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military), Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military).[1] In addition, he was decorated with the French Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) on 13 July 2005 for the "excellent cooperation existing between French defence industries related to aeronautics and the Pakistan Air Force, which happens to maintain the most important fleet of Mirages in the world, after France, and acknowledges the impulse given personally by the Chief of Air Staff."[8]

In March 2006, ACM Kaleem Saadat's three-year term expired and he was replaced by the then Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, as the air chief.