Abbasi flies to a record on Falcon
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has become the first Premier of the country to fly in a F-16 aircraft.
Mr Abbasi, who visited an airbase of Pakistan Air Force in Sargodha, flew an exercise training mission in F-16 of the elite No 9 multirole squadron.
The Air Chief, sitting in another F-16, also participated in the training mission. It was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a Prime Minister participated in a flying mission sitting in the rear cockpit of a fighter jet.
After landing back at the base, the Prime Minister interacted with the combat air and ground crew of the squadron.
Later, he appreciated the high morale of aerial defenders of the country and expressed his satisfaction on the operational readiness of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
Mr Abbasi was briefed about the operational preparedness of PAF and other contributions of the force especially during disaster management and relief operations.
Mr Abbasi expressed his deep satisfaction on the niche attained by the PAF amongst the modern air forces of the world.
Mr Abbasi visited newlyestablished Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) and attended a briefing on the ongoing exercise Saffron Bandit.
Envisioned by the Air Chief, ACE is a high quality institution which has been equipped with stateof-the-art facilities and infrastructure.
Besides training the PAF personnel, this institute would also train the combat crew of friendly air forces by conducting multi-national training exercises. Mr Abbasi was also informed that the first-ever multinational exercise will be held in October this year which would be participated by 19 air forces.
Prime Minister was also briefed about PAF contributions in nation-building. PAF has started numerous vocational institutions all across the country to create job opportunities for youth of the country.