Pilots	Flt Lt Khalid Mehmood (leader)
	Sdq Ldr Anwar Hussain (no.2)
Controller	Sqd Ldr Irfan-ul-Haq
Date	12 September 1988
Aircraft shot	2 x Mig-23s
Area	South of Chitral

This formation took-off from Minhas (Kamra) air base at 0606 hours after a detailed mission briefing. The formation set the CAP in Nawagai area at 10,000 feet AGL as directed by the GCI controller. At about 0640 hours, the controller vectored the formation to a northwesternly heading for two enemy aircraft that were heading east. No. 2 picked up the intruders flying at 34,000 feet on his AI. Meanwhile, the targets had turned away and started flying parallel to the border in a northernly direction.

The GCI quickly repositioned the formation of four other potential intruders that were heading east. At 18 NM, the leader picked up one blip followed by five more blips withen a second. No. 2 also had AI lock on these targets. However, the GCI radar was reorting only five blips. The enemy aircraft appeared in two distinct formations on the scope. There were four aircraft in the first formation and two in the trailing one. The leader locked on the last bogey in the first formation and took necessary tactical actions. The F-16s were flying at 10,000 ft while the intruders were at 34-36,000 ft. The F-16s initiated a climb.

They were closing in fast towards the enemy at rates higher than 1,000 knots. The radar controller was continuously updating the rapidly changing aerial situation. The rear section of the two aircraft was flying faster than the front one and had come quite close to the leading section. Vital seconds were passing quickly. The leader rechecked his electronic sensors (ALR-69) to confirm that no enemy aircraft had locked onto his formation. At the same time, with the help of HUD TD box, the leader quickly picked up the enemy aircraft visually at 7 NM and announced it on radio. The leading section was flying in a right extended echelon with a distance of about 4,000 ft between each aircraft. The rear section was also in the same formation and was positioned to their left side. All six aircraft were Mig-23s, camoflauged in khaki color.

The leader closed in and at a distance of about 7 NM, the computer had started flashing the DLZ symbol on the HUD, confirming that the enemy was withen his AIM-9L missile range. However, the other two conditions i.e. the IR tone and missile seeker head being locked on the target were not met. This was probably because the enemy had bought the throttle back as a part of his counter tactics to the IR missiles. The leader was closing in fast and he made three attempts to lock the missile seeker head-on with the enemy aircraft but all without success. Luckily, in the forth attempt, when less than 2 NM from the enemy aircraft, his AIM-9L seeker head locked the bogey and got a solid audio tone that further confirmed that he could fire his missile. In the words of Khalid:

At 1.7 NM, I launched my first missile. My aircraft shuddered as the missile left the aircraft, upsetting me for a while. This was my first experience firing a missile. I saw my missile taking a lead for its target while I started looking for other enemy aircraft. I had made an oblique, left to right, lo to high, conversion attack on the enemy at 130-140 degrees aspect angle. After firing the first missile, I reversed my bank to clear my belly from any unnoticed enemy threat. At this time, I was 1-2 NM behind all enemy aircraft, which is an ideal position for shooting down a bandit. The leading section was directly in front of me, where as the trailing section was 11 o'clock just a thousand feet ahead. I had rejected lock from my first target and switched over to Missile Override ACM 20x20 radar mode for an auto lock on the enemy aircraft. This action would also select AIM-9P missiles that were more suitable for firing under the new set of conditions. I chose the third aircraft of the leading formation as my second prey; the No. 2 and leader could become my subsequent targets. When my Sidewinder-P missile left the aircraft rail, I saw it navigating towards to target. I quickly otok aim for the next target.

After the mission, the Base authorities as well as squadron pilots saw the video repeatedly. Everyone was convinced that Khalid had achieved the kills; however, the wreckage was not found and nothing was heard on the subject for a few days. Meanwhile, a team of American experts analysed the recording and commented that in all probibility, missiles had hit the target. Later, Inspector General Fronties Corps (IGFC) visited the squadron about seven weeks later. Sonce the combat area fell under his jurisdiction, he had organized the search and recovery of the wreckage. The search party had reported that one aircraft had fallen on the Pakistani side of the border while the second debris had drifted into the territory controlled by the Afghan troops. The Afghan forces had mined the area to curb Mujahideen movements; therefore, the recovery of the wreckage was not possible. As explosions above 30,000 ft caused teh wreckage to be scattered over a large area, only one missile pylon of the downed enemy aircraft was recovered and presented to the IGFC by the search party.