With escalating military tensions in India and Pakistan amid cross-border drone attacks and retaliatory action, a little-known historical episode involving a critical PAF gaffe has returned to the scene — one that saw Pakistan downing its own F-16 fighter aircraft inadvertently. The disclosure is made at a time when the Indian government has said that Pakistani military forces probably used Turkish-produced “Asisguard Songar” drones in the May 8 attacks on Indian cities. Initial forensic examination of debris from captured drones verified their origin and tactical application for reconnaissance and precision strikes.
Against this background, defence experts are going back to a significant 1987 incident that humiliated Pakistan in the international arena. During the Soviet-Afghan War, two F-16 aircraft of Pakistan’s 14th Squadron were sent to intercept four Soviet-supported Afghan MiG-23s along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. But the mission turned tragic when one PAF pilot accidentally opened fire on his own wingman in mid-air.
The mission was commanded by Wing Commander Amjad Javed, with Flight Lieutenant Shahid Sikandar piloting the second F-16. When the jets climbed to attack the MiG-23s, Javed confused Sikandar’s plane as an enemy target and fired an AIM-9P Sidewinder missile. The missile hit Sikandar’s F-16, which was destroyed. Luckily, the pilot ejected safely and lived.
First, the Afghan Air Force took credit for the shoot-down, saying that it had destroyed a Pakistani fighter plane. But a close examination of the wreckage told a different story: Pakistan had accidentally shot down one of its own planes.
What made the humiliation worse was that the F-16, which was one of the most sophisticated multirole fighter aircraft then, had a friend-or-foe identification system. Investigations indicated that the system malfunctioned, but American officials were unconvinced for years about the explanation given by Pakistani authorities.
With Indo-Pak tensions erupting anew, military observers point out that such incidents highlight the paramount value of operational discipline, good intelligence, and trusted technology in preventing unintended escalation — particularly between two nuclear-armed neighbours.
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