AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 5 – War Diary CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 87 of 332 his surprise he found that the MUJAHIDS had already cut the telephone line at RAMGARH. This confirmed his doubts about the enemy Armour thrust at LAUNGEWALA. The radio relay link was established between the GOC and Base Cdr in the early hours of 5 Dec 71, wherein he described suspected Armour thrust at LAUNGEWALA and wanted him to investigate. Total Sorties 20 Claims Made Enemy Op and Bunkers hit, 130 Camels killed. Ammunition Expended 30 MM HE 3000 Rds, Rocket 7-10-130. 5 Dec 71 - On receipt of regarding suspected movement of Armour the Base Cdr ordered missions to standby for TACR at first light. Air Op was also cautioned to carry out reconnaissance in the area and render any assistance required by the Hunters. The repeated telephone calls from the GOC 12 Inf Div left no doubt in the mind of Base Cdr about the helplessness of the Army in the LAÜNGEWALA area, due to their scanty deployment and the preoccupation of Div with their planned advance towards RAHIMYARKHAN. LAUNGEWALA post having come under increasing enemy pressure made frantic calls for help from Div HQ. Div HQ had no options but to depend on the AIR FORCE to save the day. At about 0715 hours when the post was about to be over- run, the first Hunter mission arrived at the scene scanning the road from RAMGARH to LAUNGEWALA. The mission immediately reported the presence of T-59 tanks, confirmed also by the Air OP. The mission lost no time in engaging the tanks advancing towards the LAUNGEWALA post. The transmission of the Hunter missions was being monitored by the Base Cdr, who ordered the subsequent strikes without any delay. Missions were launched one behind the other in quick succession to beat and destroy the enemy’s armoured thrust. This turned out to be a clean battle, one of its kind, between PAKISTAN armour and the INDIAN AIR FORCE. Never in the history before, a more decisive battle has ever been fought between the AIR alone vs the ARMOUR as was done at LAUNGEWALA. With a total of Four Hunter aircraft available at the disposal of the Base Cdr, the Base was able to launch 17 sorties destroying the enemy's armour. The tanks were seen ablaze as reported by the Air OP and Coy at LAUNGEWALA. An enemy Intercept by our Army In the evening revealed the sagging morale of the PAKISTAN ARMOUR indicating casualties in men and material and SOS call for Close Air Support, without which armour advance considered impossible, which is reproduced below :