The Pakistan Air Force base in Mirpur Khas, Sindh, is getting ready for a big upgrade because a fighter squadron may move there.
Mirpur Khas is already a PAF base, and it is less than 300 km from important Indian Air Force (IAF) installations in Barmer and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. It is not too far from Bhuj, Gujarat, which is another important IAF base.
The PAF has started “coating work” on the runway and taxiway, which is already a forward operational base. At the moment, it is used for air defence, and fighter planes move there for training, but none are stationed there permanently.
With an upgrade likely, Mirpur Khas will become another PAF asset that India will have to be more careful with if a fighter squadron is permanently stationed there. The Pakistan Air Force already has two bases in Karachi and one in Jamshoro, which is even closer.
These bases are where the F-16 and JF-17 fighters are kept. Jacobabad, one of the most important PAF bases, is also not far away. Again, the F16s and JF-17s are in Jacobabad. They are all part of the Southern Command of the PAF.
So, it’s not clear why Mirpur Khas needs to be another fighter base or what the PAF hopes to get out of having another fighter base in the area. Plans are being made for what the PAF will do and when it will do it.
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