Every war and operation the Pakistan Army Aviation Corps has flown in
The corps’ wars are thinly documented in public: the army publishes no history of its aviation online that could be reached, so most entries rest on GlobalSecurity and Wikipedia. Claims are attributed to the side that makes them: the 1992 loss of a Pakistani helicopter on the Siachen front is India’s account as summarised by Wikipedia, and militant casualty figures for Swat and North Waziristan are Pakistani military claims. In May 2025 no role for army aviation was published by either side. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified.
From spotting for the guns in 1965 to the gunships of Swat, Waziristan and Balochistan.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
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| Indo-Pakistani war of 1965the September warPakistan Army aviation | 1965 | India | Cessna O-1 Bird Dog, Bell OH-13 Sioux | |||
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Flew artillery spotting, liaison and forward air control. The corps went to its first war with O-1 Bird Dog spotter aircraft and the 18 OH-13 helicopters delivered to Dhamial only the year before. GlobalSecurity, the only source reached for this part of its history, says the helicopters were used for spotting, liaison and forward air control. No figures for sorties or losses, and no Indian account of the army aircraft, were found. The air war’s contested kill and loss claims belong to the two air forces and are given on the Pakistan Air Force page. Outcome A ceasefire on 23 September 1965 ended the fighting. Thinly sourced: one secondary source describes the role in a single sentence.
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| Indo-Pakistani war of 1971and the Bangladesh Liberation WarPakistan Army aviation | 1971 | India and Mukti Bahini | Mil Mi-8, Aérospatiale Alouette III | |||
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Mi-8 and Alouette III helicopters flew in East Pakistan until the surrender, when they were withdrawn to Burma. In East Pakistan the army’s helicopters were among the few aircraft still flying once the air force’s single Sabre squadron at Dhaka had been put out of action. GlobalSecurity says Mi-8s and Alouette IIIs saw action there and that, when the Eastern Command surrendered, they were withdrawn through Burma. Wikipedia’s article on the corps’ headquarters records that Dhamial was renamed Qasim Army Aviation Base on 12 December 1972 to honour Major Muhammad Qasim for his sacrifice in the war. Details of individual missions, of losses and of Indian claims against the army’s helicopters were not found in the sources reached. Outcome Pakistan’s Eastern Command surrendered at Dhaka on 16 December 1971 and Bangladesh became independent. The Bangladesh war’s wider human toll is outside this page. The helicopter role is described only in general terms.
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| Siachen conflictthe war on the glacierPakistan Army Aviation Corps | 1984–2003 | India | SA 315B Lama, Alouette III, Mi-17 | |||
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Supplied and supported Pakistani posts at extreme altitude after India occupied the Saltoro passes in April 1984. India’s Operation Meghdoot seized Bilafond La on 13 April 1984 and Sia La on 17 April with Indian Air Force helicopter support, pre-empting a Pakistani plan, Operation Ababeel. For two decades both armies fought over the ridge at heights where helicopters were the only practical supply line. The Lama, a light helicopter built for high altitude, of which GlobalSecurity says six were bought from Romania in 1987, was suited to the task. The best-documented Pakistani aviation event in the sources reached is from the fighting for Bahadur post in 1992: Wikipedia says an Indian Igla missile hit Pakistani helicopters on 1 August, killing the commander of Pakistani forces in the Northern Areas, Brigadier Masood Navid Anwari, and others with him, and that this blunted the Pakistani attack. Outcome A ceasefire along the Line of Control, including Siachen, has held since 2003; both armies still hold positions on the glacier. The 1992 account is Wikipedia’s and reflects Indian claims; no Pakistani official account of the loss was reached. The end date marks the 2003 ceasefire, not a settlement.
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| United Nations missionsSomalia, Sierra Leone and the CongoPakistan Army Aviation Corps | 1994– | AH-1F Cobra, SA 330 Puma | 1 | |||
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Flew attack and transport helicopters for UN peacekeeping missions. The Cobra’s first deployment abroad was with the UN in Somalia: Wikipedia’s Cobra article says a single squadron deployed in 1994 during UNOSOM II, and that Pakistani Cobras later saw action in Sierra Leone. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo the corps flies for MONUSCO; on 29 March 2022 one of its Pumas crashed while on a reconnaissance mission, and Wikipedia records eight peacekeepers killed, six of them Pakistani army personnel. Outcome Ongoing in the Congo. Dates and scale of the Sierra Leone deployment were not confirmed.
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| War in north-west PakistanSwat, Waziristan and the tribal areasPakistan Army Aviation Corps | 2004– | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and other militant groups | AH-1F Cobra, Mi-17, Bell 412 | |||
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Cobra gunships attacked militant positions and Mi-17s moved troops and supplies in successive offensives, including Swat in 2009 and North Waziristan from 2014. The war that followed 2001 made the corps a combat arm in daily use. The United States paid for much of it: GlobalSecurity records a $235 million project from 2004 and 26 Bell 412s and refurbished Cobras handed over in 2007, and on 11 June 2009 the US gave four Mi-17s after a request from the army chief. In the second battle of Swat in 2009 the army sent helicopter gunships to support fighting at Shatkas and Ghazi Gai on 12 June, according to Wikipedia, which also gives the military’s claim of 1,200 militants killed by 30 May. Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan began on 15 June 2014; Wikipedia, citing Pakistani reports, records Cobras killing 15 militants on the Zartatangi heights on 19 June and destroying hideouts at Qutab Khel the next day. ISPR’s final figures for the operation were about 3,400 militants and 488 soldiers killed. None of these figures has been independently verified. Outcome Large-scale offensives ended in 2017; militant violence has continued. Militant casualty figures are Pakistani military claims; journalists had little access to the fighting.
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| Insurgency in BalochistanPakistan Army Aviation Corps | 2018– | Baloch separatist and other militant groups | Mi-35M, AH-1F Cobra | |||
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Mi-35 and AH-1F gunships supported counter-insurgency operations, including the counter-offensive after militant attacks in early 2022. Wikipedia’s Mi-24 article says Pakistan’s four Mi-35Ms, delivered in 2018, have been used in several counter-insurgency operations in Balochistan, and that in the early-2022 militant attacks Mi-35s and AH-1F Cobras gave ground support and reconnaissance in the counter-offensive. Dates, places and results were not given in the sources reached. Outcome Ongoing. Single secondary source; Baloch groups’ accounts were not reached. |
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| 2025 India–Pakistan conflictOperation Bunyan-um-Marsoos (Pakistan) and Operation Sindoor (India)Pakistan Army | 2025 | India | ||||
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No role for army aviation was published by either side. The fighting of 7–10 May 2025 was waged by the air forces, missiles and drones; the claims about aircraft shot down concern the two air forces and are given on the Pakistan Air Force page. Wikipedia reports that Indian strikes targeted early-warning radar sites of the Pakistan Army Air Defence Corps, including one at Gujranwala, and that Pakistan claimed to have neutralised 77 Indian drones from 6 May; both are claims about the army’s air defence, not its aviation. Three months after the ceasefire the army inducted the Z-10ME attack helicopter. Outcome A ceasefire took effect at 16:30 PKT on 10 May 2025. Both governments’ figures for the wider conflict remain unverified.
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Nothing matches that search.
Every figure, checked
- GlobalSecurity: Army Aviation Corps (Pakistan)Year-by-year acquisitions 1957–2008; 1965 and 1971 roles; 2005 earthquake flying hours.
- Asian Military Review: Pakistan inducts first Chinese-built Z-10ME attack helicopters (11 August 2025)Induction at Multan Garrison on 2 August 2025 by Field Marshal Asim Munir; up to 40 reported.
- MiGFlug Order of Battle: Pakistan Air Force dataset (verified 30 September 2026)Internal consistency check: 1965, 1971 and 2025 entries; PAF Base Nur Khan (Chaklala) row.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Pakistan Army Aviation Corps.