THE SECOND PILOT

By Saleem Akhtar Malik

A media war of sorts, mostly involving keyboard warriors, is going on since 27th
February 2019 when, in retaliation to an IAF foray across the LoC a night earlier,
PAF launched an attack against six Indian military targets in the Held Kashmir.
Pakistan claims having downed two Indian aircraft that day, a MiG21 Bis piloted
by Wing Commander Abhinandan, and a SU30 MKI. Whereas the wreckage of
MiG21 fell inside Pakistani territory and the pilot apprehended, the SU30 and its
pilot(s) remain elusive.

In their counter claim, IAF insists that Abhinandan, before getting shot down, had
locked his air-to-air missile on a PAF F-16 and shot it down. This was the F-16,
they claim, whose wreckage had also fallen inside Pakistani territory. The F-16
pilot, they speculate, might have been mistaken for an Indian pilot and smothered
by the locals. This, they contend, explains the mystery of the second injured Indian
pilot taken prisoner according to the initial Pakistani reports.

On 28th February, India’s defence spokesman displayed the remains of an

American-made missile as ‘absolute proof’ that IAF had shot down a PAF- F16 the
day before, claiming that the missile could only have been launched by an F-16.
The wreckage displayed by the Indian spokesman identified the missile as an AIM-
120C-5 AMRAAM. Markings on the wreckage also identified the contract serial
number of the missile as FA8675-05-C-0070. A cyber search done by a Pakistani
news paper, The Express Tribune, revealed that contract number FA-8675-05-C-
0070 corresponded to a batch of AIM-120C-5 AMRAAM missiles supplied to
Taiwan in a Foreign Military Sale worth $2.38 million. Pakistan does not have
diplomatic relations with Taiwan and considers Taiwan as a province of China. A
version of the report can be found on the official website of the Office of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. It can be accessed via the
following link: https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpic/cp/docs/USA002235-
10_Complete%20Foreign%20Military%20Sales.pdf.
Almost a month after the clash, The same Indian defence spokesman held another
press briefing in which he displayed the electronic imagery of an IAF AWAC
aircraft (A-50EI Il-76 fitted with the EL/W-2090 Israeli airborne Phalcon radar).
He cited it as a proof that on 27th February at least three PAF F-16s were present in
the area of engagement and that one of the F-16s suddenly disappeared from the
radar screen. The imagery, in fact, was not the original electronic image sent by the
IAF AWAC. It was a photo shopped version of the original imagery. This,
explained the spokesman, was due to security reasons.
Whereas the official Pakistani media remains quiet, the grapevine suggests that the
unexplained second pilot might have been an Israeli, who, according to the initial
accounts, was admitted in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) of the Pakistan
Army. There are at least two signs which point out to this possibility:
1) Zafar Ali Hilaly, a retired Pakistani diplomat and former ambassador to Nigeria,
Yemen, and Italy disclosed in a TV programme that it might be so. Given below is
the transcript of Zafar Hilaly’s statement on the TV channel:
We have (in our custody) an Israeli pilot whose plane was downed by us, my
information tells. Israel had appealed to America for (the pilot’s) release. And, you
know, Israel is (just like) part f America. So, the Americans had appealed to us for
the release of (this) Israeli pilot. I think we would have given a favorable answer to
the Americans, from their point of view. That was the reason there was no further
escalation and the things de-escalated.
A person of the caliber and repute of Hilaly cannot indulge in kite flying on the
media.
2) After the suicide attack on an Indian CPRF convoy at Pulwama, Hananiya
Naftali, an Israeli blogger who is considered fairly close to the Israeli PM
Nethanyahu, sent the following Tweet:
The Tweet was withdrawn after a few days. This writer tried to contact
@HananiyaNaftali to verify if there was an Israeli pilot missing from their
“Attendance Roll”. He didn’t reply. But his Tweet did reveal that the group photo
was taken either in Israel or India, and that Israelis were hand in glove in planning
and executing military operations against Pakistan. The suspicion was further
reinforced when Pakistan’s FM stated India and Israel had planned a missile attack
against two Pakistani cities but backed off when Pakistan threatened retaliation.
Pakistan, it should be understood, is not in a position to annoy America by
indulging in insinuations against Israel, her grand ally.
There is a history of Israel- Pakistan frictions where Pakistan, showing a
heightened sense of solidarity with the Arab states, involved herself actively in
Arab-Israel hostilities. PAF pilots took part in air operations against Israel during
the 1967 and 1973 wars. It goes like this:
“Pakistani pilots did participate in both the 67' and 73' wars with Israel”. Replied
Amit Meltzer, an Israeli, on March 22, 2016 to a query on the internet. “They
fought with Jordan in 67' and with Syria in 73”, he continues. “The pilots were
considerably more skilled than those of the Arab host countries and probably
managed to shoot down at least 1 Israeli jet, though claims of 10+ victories are
probably just a flight of fancy. I checked the official lists of Israeli pilots downed
and killed in both wars, and there's only one credible victory claimed that can be
verified (Saiful Azam)”.Well, at least the Israeli concedes the loss of one aircraft.

At 12:48 p.m. on June 5, four Israeli jets were descending on Jordan’s Mafraq air
base to smash the country’s tiny air force, shortly after the entire Egyptian air force
had been reduced to rubble. To intercept the incoming attack, Jordanian air force
commanders deputized Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam, who was on loan as an advisor from
Pakistan. Once airborne with other Jordanian pilots, Saiful Azam engaged the
attacking aircraft in an air-to-air combat, shooting down a Mystére commanded by
Israeli pilot H. Boleh and shot and damaging another that crash-landed in Israeli
territory.

Two days later he was urgently dispatched to Iraq along with several Jordanian
pilots to defend the Iraqi air bases against the Israeli air force which by then had
ruled without any challenge the Arab skies over Egypt, Syria, Jordan and now Iraq.
Here, he again was deputized by the Iraqi air force, along with top Jordanian pilot
Ihsan Shurdom, who later became the commander of Jordanian air force, to fly its
Hunters in defense of its H-3 and al-Walid air bases. Once airborne the Jordanian
and Iraqi pilots with Saiful Azam leading the formation intercepted the attacking
Israeli aircrafts that ended up of the shooting down two of Azam’s Iraqi wingmen
by the attacking Israelis. It was then when Saiful Azam used his air combat skills
and, flying the Iraqi Hunter, shot down two of the Israeli attacking planes. Within
72 hours, Saiful Azam became the only fighter-pilot in the world to hold the record
of shooting down three confirmed kills of Israeli aircrafts in air-to-air combat, a
record that still stands today. After the 71 War, Saif ul Azam opted for Bangladesh,
his native country.

Saif ul Islam was decorated by Field Marshall Ayub Khan for shooting down an IAF Gnat during
65 War

While Amit Metzer denies Israel having lost any aircraft other than the one shot
down by Saif ul Azam, there is another PAF claim:
On 26 April 1974, PAF fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Sattar Alvi, on deputation to
No. 67A Squadron, Syrian Air Force (SAF) was flying a SAF MiG-21F-13 (Serial
No. 1863) out of Dumayr Air Base, Syria in an eight-ship formation with a fellow
PAF pilot and the Flight Leader, Squadron Leader Arif Manzoor.
Alvi came to worldwide international notice when he shot down the IAF's Mirage
IIICJ flown by Captain M. Lutz. On 26 April 1974, while on an aerial patrol, the
PAF fighter pilot team including, Flight Lieutenant Captain Sattar Alvi, Squadron
Leader Major Saleem Metla and the formation's leader Squadron Leader Major
Arif Manzoor had an encounter over the Golan Heights between a Mig-21 of
the Syrian Air Force and two Israeli Mirages.
While leading a Mig-21 patrol along the border, Squadron Leader Arif Manzoor
was apprised of the presence of two Israeli Phantom aircraft and was cautioned that
these could be decoys while two other fast tracks approaching from the opposite
direction might be the real threat. The latter turned out to be Mirages and a
moment later Alvi, in Arif's formation, saw the No 2 Mirage breaking towards
him. All this time, heavy radio jamming by Israeli ground stations was making
things difficult but the Pakistani pilots were used to such tactics. He managed to
shoot down the jet piloted by Captain Lutz while the wingman quickly disengaged.
Pakistan and Israel continued to engage in covert conflicts against each other.
When Mossad failed to prevent the Pakistani Nuclear Program and the globally
dubbed "Islamic Bomb", a plan to bomb Pakistan Nuclear Facilities in Kahuta was
authorized by the Israeli High Command with Indian approval and support.
Indira Gandhi was hankering to take out Kahuta. She had ordered Indian Army and
Air Force to prepare plans for attacking Pakistan’s enrichment plant. She witnessed
an army- air force demonstration featuring a mock attack on Kahuta. The Indians
contemplated a joint Indo-Israeli surgical strike on Kahuta, but chickened out when
the Israelis demanded refueling facilities at the Jamnagar air force station, in
India’s Gujarat state.
Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI , discovered the plan and prepared
retaliatory measures. Pakistani F-16s did not have the fuel capacity to carry out
bombing missions in Israel and return; hence a one-way suicidal mission was
conceived. Finally, the Indo-Israeli plan to bomb Kahuta was aborted.
So, what about the second pilot?
If indeed an Israeli pilot was captured by Pakistan on 27th February, where could
he be? Following possibilities can be considered?
1. He is still in Pakistan’s custody, awaiting a package deal with American.
2. A deal has already been struck and he has already been repatriated to Israel.
In both the above mentioned possibilities, what will Pakistan get as quid pro quo?
What did Zafar Hilaly actually imply when he said “So, the Americans had
appealed to us for the release of (this) Israeli pilot? I think we would have given a
favorable answer to the Americans, from their point of view. That was the reason
there was no further escalation and the things de-escalated”.
A favor for a favor- Pakistan may get Aafia Siddiqui’s jail sentence revoked. Aafia
Siddiqui is a Pakistani neuroscientist with degrees from MIT and Brandeis
University, who was convicted for felony. In 2010, she was convicted of seven
counts of attempted murder and assault on US military personnel in Kabul, and is
serving her 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort
Worth, Texas.