<P> The war saw aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) engaging in combat for the first time since independence . Though the two forces had previously faced off in the First Kashmir War during the late 1940s, that engagement was very limited in scale compared to the 1965 conflict . </P> <P> The IAF was flying large numbers of Hawker Hunters, Indian - manufactured Folland Gnats, de Havilland Vampires, EE Canberra bombers and a squadron of MiG - 21s . The PAF's fighter force comprised 102 F - 86F Sabres and 12 F - 104 Starfighters, along with 24 B - 57 Canberra bombers . During the conflict, the PAF claimed it was out - numbered by around 5: 1 . </P> <P> The PAF's aircraft were largely of American origin, whereas the IAF flew an assortment of British and Soviet aeroplanes . It has been widely reported that the PAF's American aircraft were superior to those of the IAF . </P> <P> The F - 86 was vulnerable to the diminutive Folland Gnat, nicknamed "Sabre Slayer ." The Gnat is credited by many independent and Indian sources as having shot down seven Pakistani Canadair Sabres in the 1965 war . while two Gnats were downed by PAF fighters . The PAF's F - 104 Starfighter of the PAF was the fastest fighter operating in the subcontinent at that time and was often referred to as "the pride of the PAF". However, according to Sajjad Haider, the F - 104 did not deserve this reputation . Being "a high level interceptor designed to neutralise Soviet strategic bombers in altitudes above 40,000 feet," rather than engage in dogfights with agile fighters at low altitudes, it was "unsuited to the tactical environment of the region ." In combat the Starfighter was not as effective as the IAF's far more agile, albeit much slower, Folland Gnat fighter . Yet it zoomed into an ongoing dogfight between Sabres and Gnats, at supersonic speed, successfully broke off the fight and caused the Gnats to egress . An IAF Gnat, piloted by Squadron Leader Brij Pal Singh Sikand, landed at an abandoned Pakistani airstrip at Pasrur and was captured by the Pakistan Army . The pilot claimed that most of his equipment failed and even if he could get some chance on that, the Starfighters snuffed it . This Gnat is displayed as a war trophy in the Pakistan Air Force Museum, Karachi . Sqn Ldr Saad Hatmi who flew the captured aircraft to Sargodha, and later tested and evaluated its flight performance, was of view that Gnat was no "Sabre Slayer" when it came to dog fighting . The Pakistan Air Force had fought well in countering the much large Indian Air Force and supported the ground forces . </P>

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