Fighter Jets

Pakistani Air Force defends and protects the airspace of Pakistan, the main aircraft of the air force is the Chengdu J-7 Airguard (China) and the Dassault Mirage III (France).
The biggest threat to Pakistan has been there much larger neighbour India which have fought four wars with each other and one that was about to brake out in 2000 when kashmiri terroists attacked the indian parliment.
This has led Pakistan to aquire more technology from freindly nations such as China with the airforce building joint venture projects with there Chinease counterparts one of these such project is the JF-17 Thunder Multirole fighter aircraft this will become the backbone of the airforce for years to come.
The Pakistan Air Force currently operates an estimated 500 to 530 combat aircraft. The total of aircraft in service including VIP, trainer and transport aircraft is over 800.

Below is the up to date list of Pakistan Air Force Aircrafts In Service:

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service	Comments
Fighter Aircraft
JF-17 Thunder	China  Pakistan	Multirole	JF-17	8	150 ordered, a total of 250 expected
Chengdu FC-20	China	Advanced Multirole & Air Superiority	FC-20 (J-10B)	0	36 ordered, to be delivered in 2009 expected
Chengdu J-7 Airguard	China	Interceptor Interceptor Trainer Trainer	Total F-7PG F-7MP FT-7P FT-7PG	192 48 120 15 9
Nanchang A-5	China	Strike & Ground Support	A-5C	41	Being phased out
Lockheed-Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon	United States	Multirole fighter Multirole fighter	Total F-16A/B F-16C/D	44 44 0	24 F-16C/D ordered
Dassault Mirage III	France	Strike & Ground Support Interceptor Reconnaissance	Total Mirage-IIIEP (ROSE Program) Mirage-IIIO (ROSE Program) Mirage-IIIR/RP	121 63 43 15	Mirage-IIIO being phased out
Dassault Mirage 5	France	Naval Support Ground Support Ground Support Training	Total 5PA3 5PA2 5PA 5VDPA2	60 12 18 28 2
Trainer Aircraft
K-8 Karakorum	Pakistan	Intermediate Trainer	K-8	12
J-7 Trainers (FT)	China	Advanced trainer Advanced Trainer Advanced Trainer	FT-5 FT-6 FT-7	25 15 20
Mushak	Pakistan	Basic Trainer Basic Trainer	Super Mushak MFI-395 Mushak MFI-17	20 80
Transports
Antonov An-26	Russia	Medium-lift Transport	An-26	1
C-12 Huron	United States	Medium-lift Transport	C-12	1
Boeing 707	United States	Heavy-lift Transport	Boeing 707	3
Lockheed C-130 Hercules	United States	Tactical Tactical	Total C-130B C-130E	12 5 7	Out of 24 ordered.
Helicopter
Mi-171	Soviet Union	Transport/Attack	Mi-8	4
SA-316/319	France	Utility Utility Utility	Total SA-3160 SA-316B SA-319B	15 7 4 4	Local production of SA319B
Airborne Early Warning and Control
Saab 2000	Sweden	AEW&C	Saab 2000 AEW&C	1	Out of 5 ordered

• ROSE: Retrofit Of Strike Element; is the major (Avionics + Radar) upgrade that the PAF Mirage fleet under went during the 90s.
  • ROSE-I: This included upgraded cockpit instrumentation, Grifo-M Radar and weapons system reconfiguration. (BVR-able).
  • ROSE-II: This included the SAGEM-implemented MAESTRO Nav/Attack System. (Strike).
  • ROSE-III: This included the Sagem MAESTRO Nav/Attack and FLIR. (Precision Strike).

Some 70 of the Mirages have been given ROSE upgrades - allowing them to either perform high-altitude air-superiority missions or specialized surface strike missions. The F-7PGs and F-16s are the PAF’s main multirole fighter aircraft - while the F-7P is a limited interceptor/ground-strike aircraft. It is likely, however, that the PAF will procure another 26 F-16A/Bs to start retiring its F-7Ps.