in South-East Asia’. Hunters also carried out ground-support operations in the Chhamb area, one being lost to ground fire — although, once again, the Pakistanis made no claim for this aircraft. The IAF claimed the destruction of six PakAF aircraft — four Sabres and two B-57s during the day’s operations in the west; on the eastern front, a Hunter destroyed one of the few surviving Sabres of No 14 Squadron, most of the others having been knocked out on the ground.
By 7 December the emphasis had switched firmly to ground-support operations, with attacks on armour, rolling stock in the rear areas and troop concentrations. One Hunter was shot down near Farilka by an F-86. On the following day, with Indian forces consolidating their positions at Chhamb, this section was the scene of intense air activity, the IAF flying seventy sorties against enemy ground forces. Two Hunters were lost during these operations, both to ground fire: one at Sulemanki and the other at Risalawala. Two more Hunters were lost on 9 December, both to ground fire, during attacks on Pakistani armour and convoys.
On 10 December Pakistani forces launched a strong offensive at Chhamb, supported by armour and aircraft, and bitter fighting broke out on the banks of the Munnawar Tawi river. Hunters and MiG-21s were committed to ground attack and then Su-7s took over the task, suffering heavy losses from ground fire and CAP Sabres. A PakAF Mirage strafed the airstrip at Pathankot, destroying two Hunters on the ground. On the following day the IAF continued to exert pressure on PakArmy forces retreating on the eastern front, losing a Hunter to ground fire in the Dacca sector; on the 12th the Hunters of No 14 Squadron IAF struck at troop and vehicle concentrations in the Dinajpur sector, while MiG-21s attacked enemy strongpoints near Dacca. Later in the day the airfield at Jessore, whose control tower, radar and communications had been badly damaged in IAF attacks prior to its capture, was brought back into commission and No 14 Squadron’s Hunters flew in.
On the western front, on 13 December, JAF Hunters using cannon and rockets attacked Pakistan’s biggest petrochemical plant at Khairpur — which provided fuel for munitions factories in northern Pakistan — and inflicted severe damage on it. Later, Hunters joined other TAF aircraft in attacks on munitions trains in the Khairpur area. No Hunter losses were recorded on this day, nor on the 14th, when heavy attacks continued against ammunition and troop trains as well as fuel and supply depots well to the Pakistani rear. On the eastern front, air support for Indian ground forces who were now fighting in the suburbs of Dacca was mainly provided by MiG-21s.
The next day saw increased pressure by Indian forces on both the Punjab and Scind fronts. In the latter case, the IAF was required to fly a large number of ground attack sorties in support of troops advancing in the Naya Chor sector and there was some air fighting, in the course of which Hunters claimed the destruction of a M1G-19 and a Sabre for the loss of one of their own number. At dusk, Hunters made rocket attacks on the port installations at Karachi and continued to operate offensively in the area after dark, in conjunction with IAF Canberras.
No further Hunters were lost in the conflict, which was now approaching its close. On the eastern front, the TAF suspended all offensive operations at 17.00 hours local time on 15 December, and Pakistani armed forces in that area surrendered unconditionally the next day. On the western front, heavy fighting continued on 17 December, with Hunters, MiG-21s, Su-7s and Canberras flying 200 sorties, against lines of communication, fuel and ammunition dumps, while PakAF Sabres, Mirages and F-104s made several attacks on the IAF’s forward airfields. At 14.00 hours local time, a general ceasefire brought the short but bitter war to an end.
After the confusion of the first couple of days, claims of aircraft destroyed and admissions of losses on both sides tended to corroborate each other in the 1971 conflict. Much more attention was paid to confirmation of kills, either by the release of ciné film or photographing wreckage on the ground. The Pakistanis appear to have had a substantial edge over the Indians in air combat, and this view was firmly held by Brigadier-General Charles Yeager, USAF, who had arrived in Pakistan as US Defence Representative just before the outbreak of war. ‘The air war lasted two weeks,’ he said, ‘and the Pakistanis scored a three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made Indian jets and losing thirty-four airplanes of their own. I’m certain about the figures because I went out several times a day in a chopper and counted the wrecks below. I counted wrecks on Pakistani soil, documented them by serial number, identified the components such as engines, rocket pods, and new equipment on newer airplanes like the Soviet Su-7 fighter-bomber and the MiG-21J . . . The Pakistani Army would cart off these items for me, and when the war ended, it took two big American Air Force cargo lifters to carry all those parts back to the States for analysis by our intelligence division.’
Yeager made no mention of Hunters, Gnats or Mysteres, but then the Americans were not particularly interested in British and French combat aircraft, especially those of a middle-aged generation.
The IAF lost twenty-two Hunters in the 1971 conflict, including those destroyed on the ground. The type remained in first-line service, and in 1973 a further order was placed for five T.Mk.66s. In 1979 No 14 Squadron at Ambala began to replace its Hunters with the Jaguar, the intention being for Nos 20, 27 and 37 Squadrons to follow suit. No 27 Squadron re-equipped with Jaguars in 1985, but the phasing out of the older types has been slow — partly because the Jaguar has been replacing the Canberra in IAF service, as well as the Hunter — and in 1987 Nos 20 and 37 Squadrons were still using Hunters. Some Hunters are also still used for weapons training and target towing with Nos 3 and 31 Squadrons of the Armament Training Wing at Jamnagar, while the surviving two-seaters serve with the OCU at Kalaikunda.
