How The U.S. Rewired Pakistan’s Air Force; Why That Legacy Still Matters Against India

How a 70-year-old American training doctrine continues to shape Pakistan’s air combat tactics, integration of Chinese jets and its aerial posture against India.

Representational image (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

New Delhi: When Indian jets pounded Pakistani positions under Operation Sindoor, Islamabad’s narrative tried to flip the script. Claims of tactical success echoed through Pakistani media, even as damage reports told a different story. But behind these optics, Pakistani defence analysts are pointing to a system that did not come from China, but from the United States nearly 70 years ago.

Defence portal Quwa highlighted how the foundations of Pakistan’s air force still rest on operational practices and doctrine handed down by the United States as far back as the 1950s. The report claims that what many today call “software”, mindset, structure and operational culture, was installed in the early days of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) by American advisors.

That legacy has shaped PAF’s command philosophy to this day. It even influenced the decision to move the Air Force Headquarters from Rawalpindi to Peshawar, giving the force its own command ecosystem, distinct from the army's shadow.

How America Gave PAF Its Operational ‘Software’

According to Quwa, in the early 1950s, Pakistan’s air force lacked both equipment and a professional framework. The turning point came with the 1950 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the United States. Under this, Washington not only provided F-86 Sabre aircraft to Pakistan but also embedded an entire operational doctrine into the PAF.

Considered the architect of a modern PAF, then Air Marshal Asghar Khan recognised that the United States was sending jets as well as exporting a full system. This included depot-level aircraft maintenance, rather than the traditional squadron-level model; strict safety regulations, based on U.S. Air Force protocols; and clearly separated departments for operations, maintenance and administration.

This model replaced the older British system and gave Pakistan’s air force an American-style command structure that is still in use today.

According to Quwa, this is the backbone that allows the PAF to integrate foreign fighter jets, including the Chinese J-10CE, into its arsenal smoothly.

The report argues that this inherited mindset enables faster pilot adaptation and more coherent training cycles, which translates into better performance during real combat situations.

A Quiet Nod to the U.S., Not China

While Pakistani media has hyped up the role of Chinese-origin J-10CE fighter jets in countering India’s Rafales, Quwa takes a more nuanced position. It suggests that the real enabler was not Chinese technology, but American methodology.

The systems laid down decades ago by the United States, it claims, allow the PAF to function as a streamlined and adaptable air force, something its regional rivals have had to build from scratch.

This legacy also explains the PAF’s ability to quickly operationalise new platforms. Pilots transitioning to newer aircraft often show higher mission-readiness because the doctrine standardises procedures across the force. And it was this very consistency, Quwa argues, that allowed Pakistan to mount any kind of coordinated air response during India's strikes.

What Really Happened in the Skies?

Despite Pakistan’s claims, the outcomes of the recent aerial confrontations tell a more complex story. Islamabad managed to shoot down one Indian aircraft, but failed to intercept or prevent Indian strikes on nine strategic sites in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Indian Rafales inflicted heavy damage. In military terms, Quwa concedes, these results raise questions.

One of the contributing factors was a misjudgement by Indian forces regarding the range of China’s PL-15 missiles, a gap in calculation that Pakistan used to its advantage.

Even then, say Indian analysts, PAF’s performance could only be counted as successful if it had prevented India’s deep-penetration airstrikes, not merely retaliated after the fact.

A Legacy That Still Shapes Air Battles

Pakistan’s narrative of victory, critics say, may not hold up under scrutiny. But the story that emerges from Quwa’s reporting is not about flashy dogfights or headline-grabbing missile launches. It is about how a 70-year-old framework continues to define one of South Asia’s most professionalised air forces.

In the end, as Quwa puts it, it was not Chinese, but American ‘software’ (a system of discipline, structure and long-term strategic thinking) that made the real difference.