Abbasi becomes first Pak PM to fly in F-16 fighter jet
islamabad — Pakistan’s new prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi became the country’s first premier to fly in a United Statesmade F-16 fighter aircraft, media report said.
Abbasi, during a visit to the newly-established Airpower Center of Excellence (ACE) at an operational air base of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), flew in the singleengine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft.
The 58-year-old became the first-ever prime minister of Pakistan to participate in an air force sortie, Geo News reported.
The United States-made F-16 fighter aircraft belonged to the No 9 Squadron of the PAF.
The facility at the Mushaf Air base in Punjab’s Sargodha city is a premier institution which has been equipped with state-of-theart facilities and infrastructure.
Besides training PAF personnel, the Airpower Center of Excellence would also train the combat crew of friendly air forces by conducting multinational, training exercises, the report said.
The prime minister was briefed by Air Chief Sohail Aman on the ongoing exercise ‘Saffron Bandit’ and was informed that the firstever multinational exercise will be held in October and would have participation from personnel from 19 air forces.
‘Saffron Bandit’ is a combat exercise by Pakistan Air Force involving fighter jets and ground troops with elements from the Army Aviation and Army Air Defence. It is held once in three years.