Modern-day Mamelukes
INDIA’S NEMESIS FIELDED A BATTLEHARDENED ARMY LED By SOME OF THE MOST SKILLED OFFICERS IN ASIA
In 1971 the Bangladeshi nationalists found themselves up against an implacable foe. Almost a quarter of a century prior, the British Raj’s Punjabi regiments and officers formed the nucleus of Pakistan’s armed forces. Faced with the numerically superior Hindu military of India, Pakistan’s soldiers turned to elaborate alliances to level the odds.
As a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and a dependable US ally, Pakistan received billions of dollars in aid and commensurate diplomatic support from Washington, DC. In 1971 the CIA estimated Pakistan’s armed forces had a total manpower of 284,000 troops.
In the 1960s its ground forces trained with hundreds of new M47 and M48 Patton tanks, M110 self-propelled howitzers and fought with an assortment of American, British, Chinese, French and German small arms.
The air force in particular was quite formidable after receiving 120 F-86 Saber jets in the 1950s and squadrons of the cutting-edge F-104 Starfighter later on. After the 1965 war the fighter pilot Muhammad Mahmood Alam was celebrated for his nine confirmed kills – possibly the deadliest air combat record in the jet age.
The Pakistan navy, limited as it was, had minesweepers and patrol boats that had been passed on from the US Navy, but this maritime force was dismissed by most assessments as somewhat unimpressive.
By 1971 Pakistan had already fought India twice – in 1947 over Kashmir and in the northern deserts of Rajasthan in 1965. Both conflicts saw India prevail through persistence and sheer manpower.
The 1971 war was a different kind of campaign, however. Pakistan’s soldiers were tasked with suppressing a nationalist revolt, and these actions compelled an intervention from a worried India.
Although East Pakistan looked well defended on paper, the reality was that local forces were limited to infantry, supported by a few tanks and even fewer aircraft. These units could only be supplied by a precarious air route, and supplies were insufficient for a conventional war.
Despite this, the West Pakistanis proved more than a match for the Mukti Bahini, a modest guerrilla force armed with .303 Lee Enfields.
“THE AIR FORCE IN PARTICULAR WAS QUITE FORMIDABLE AFTER RECEIVING 120 F-86 SABER JETS IN THE 1950S”