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Old 7th Oct 2011, 03:33
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ORAC
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ndia-Pakistan Wars

Main articles: Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts and Aerial warfare in 1965 India Pakistan War

At dawn on 6 September 1965, Flight Lieutenant Aftab Alam Khan in an F-104 claimed a Dassault Mystère IV destroyed over West Pakistan and another damaged, marking the start of aerial combat in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It is claimed as the first combat kill by any Mach 2 aircraft, and the first missile kill for the Pakistan Air Force. Indian sources dispute this claim.[19][page needed] The PAF lost one F-104 Starfighter during the 1965 operations, scoring two kills in return. However, one of the F-104 Starfighter's victims was a Breguet Alize aircraft which belonged to the Indian Navy, which was shot down when a Starfighter was returning home from an aborted mission.[20]

The Starfighter was also instrumental in intercepting an Indian Air Force Folland Gnat earlier, on 3 September 1965. F-104s were vectored to intercept the Gnat flying over Pakistan, returning to its home base. The F-104s, closing in at supersonic speed, caused the Gnat pilot to lower the undercarriage and land at a nearby disused Pakistani airfield to surrender. The Indian AF claims Squadron Leader Brij Pal Singh (who later rose to be an Air Marshal) made a navigation error that led him to land on the Pakistani airstrip. Singh was taken as a POW and later released.[20] The IAF Gnat is now displayed at the PAF Museum, Karachi.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, two F-104As[21][22] were lost in combat against the IAF MiG-21s. One pilot successfully ejected from his F-104 over shark-infested waters, but was never found.[23] According to Western military analysts, the Indian MiG-21s had clearly "won" the much anticipated air combat between the MiG-21 and the F-104 Starfighter.[24][page needed]
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1967 Taiwan Strait Conflict

On 13 January 1967, four Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force F-104G aircraft engaged a formation of 12 MiG-19s of the People's Liberation Army Air Force over the disputed island of Kinmen. Maj Shih-Lin Hu and Capt Bei-Puo Shih each shot down one People's Liberation Army Air Force MiG-19. This marked the first F-104 combat victory in the world. However, one F-104 did not return to base and its pilot was claimed as MIA.[25]
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