Air operations in the western sector during 1971 Indo-Pak war
- U.S.I Journal
- 151(626), Oct-Dec, 2021: p. 491-509
The decisive sector in the 1971 war was the Eastern Sector from the eyes of the Indian Armed Forces. However, in Pakistani eyes with their declared military strategy of ‘the defence of the East lies in the West’, the war in the Western Sector was their prime focus. This explains their pre-emptive air strikes on 03 Dec 1971. With only one combat squadron in the East, the PAF was soon hors de combat. This article covers the operations in the Western Sector in its entirety. It gives the air war perspective from the highest-level planning to the lowest level execution. It covers the air support to the army operations battle-wise and, hence, serves as a useful concise history of the war in its entirety. – Reproduced