Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)

The Chief of the Air Staff^[a] (reporting name: CAS) is a military appointment and a statutory office held by an Air Chief Marshal in the Pakistan Air Force, who is appointed by the prime minister of Pakistan with final confirmation by the president of Pakistan. The CAS is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistan Air Force.

Chief of the Air Staff
رئیسِ عملۂ پاک فضائیہ
Air Force Ensign of Pakistan
Incumbent Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar since 19 March 2021
Ministry of Defence (Air Force Secretariat-II at MoD)  Pakistan Air Force[1]
Abbreviation	CAS
Member of	Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee National Security Council
Reports to	Prime Minister of Pakistan Minister of Defence
Residence	Air Headquarters, Islamabad
Seat	Air Headquarters
Nominator	Prime Minister of Pakistan
Appointer	President of Pakistan
Term length	5 years Renewable
Precursor	Commander-in-Chief
Formation	3 March 1972; 53 years ago (1972-03-03)
First holder	Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry
Unofficial names	Air chief
Deputy	Vice Chief of the Air Staff
Salary	According to Pakistan Military officer's Pay Grade (apex Scale)
Website	Official Website

The Chief of the Air Staff is a senior most military appointment in the Pakistani military who is a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually providing necessary consultation to the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to act as a principal military adviser to the prime minister and its civilian government in the line of defending and guarding the nation's airspace and aerial borders.^{[2]: 40 [3]}

The Chief of the Air Staff exercises his responsibility of command and control of the operational, administration, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the Air Force.^{[2]: 140 [3]}

The appointment, in principle, was constitutionally subjected for three years. However, in March 2024, the incumbent chief was controversially given a one year extension in his tenure.^[4] In November 2024, the term length was increased to five years.^[5] The Chief of the Air Staff is based at the Air Headquarters, and the current chief is Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar.

History

The Royal Pakistan Air Force was established in August 1947, following the Partition of British India. The Air Officer Commanding was a two-star rank officer appointed by the British Air Council and reported directly to the governor-general of Pakistan, who represented the British monarch.^[6]: 238 On 30 March 1950, this position was re-designated as the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force.^[7] After the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan was enacted, the country became a republic and the "Royal" title was dropped from all military branches. The British Air Council continued appointing chiefs until 1957, when the Government of Pakistan appointed Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan, who became the first native head of the Pakistan Air Force.^[8]

On 20 March 1972, the title of the office was changed from "Commander-in-Chief" to the "Chief of Air Staff" with Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry being appointed as the first person to hold the latter title.^[9] The Air Force had its first four-star rank officer, Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan, in 1974.^[10] The term of the superannuation was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and air chief was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.^[9][3] Since 1974, there have been 14 four-star rank air force officers who have commanded the air force as its air chief.^[9]

The Chief of the Air Staff is nominated and appointed by the prime minister whose appointment is then confirmed by the president. The air force leadership is based in the AHQ (PAF) in Islamabad, at the vicinity of the Naval Headquarters.^[3]

The Chief of the Air Staff leads the functions of the AHQ, assisted by the civilians from the Air Force Secretariat-II of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).^[1] The Chief of the Air Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands.^[3] In addition, the air chief has several staff officers:-^[11]

• Vice Chief of the Air Staff
  • Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff
    • Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Operations) — DCAS(O)
    • Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Engineering) — DCAS(E)
    • Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Administration) — DCAS(A)
    • Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Training) — DCAS(T)
    • Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Personnel) — DCAS(P)
    • Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Support) — DCAS(S)
    • Inspector General Air Force — IGAF
    • Chief Project Director JF-17 Thunder — CPD JF-17 Thunder
    • Director General Air Force Strategic Command — DG AFSC
    • Director General Air Intelligence — DG AI
    • Director General Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence — DG C4ISTAR
    • Director General Projects — DG Projects
    • Director General Security — DG Security

Appointees

For Commanders prior to 1947, see RAF India § Commanders.

The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions since the independence of Pakistan.^[12]

(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)

Air Officer Commanding of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1947–50)

No.	Portrait	Air Officer Commanding	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Perry-Keene, AllanAir Vice Marshal Allan Perry-Keene CB OBE (1898–1987)	15 August 1947	17 February 1949	1 year, 186 days
2		Atcherley, RichardAir Vice Marshal Richard Atcherley CB CBE AFC (1904–1970)	18 February 1949	30 March 1950	1 year, 40 days

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1950-56)

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Atcherley, RichardAir Vice Marshal Richard Atcherley CB CBE AFC (1904–1970)	31 March 1950	6 May 1951	1 year, 36 days
2		Cannon, LeslieAir Vice Marshal Leslie William Cannon CB CBE (1904–1986)	7 May 1951	19 June 1955	4 years, 43 days
3		McDonald, ArthurAir Vice Marshal Arthur McDonald CB AFC (1903–1996)	20 June 1955	23 March 1956	277 days

Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (1956–72)

Pakistan became an Islamic republic on 23 March 1956, hence royal was dropped from the name of the air force.

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		McDonald, ArthurAir Vice Marshal Arthur McDonald CB AFC (1903–1996)	23 March 1956	22 July 1957	1 year, 121 days
2		Khan, AsgharAir Marshal Asghar Khan NT HPk HQA PM (GCCT) MA (1921–2018)	23 July 1957	23 July 1965	8 years, 0 days
3		Khan, NurAir Marshal Nur Khan HJ HS OI(J) ON NOC HQA SQA SPk SK (1923–2011)	23 July 1965	31 August 1969	4 years, 40 days
4		Khan, AbdurAir Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan HJ HQA SPk SK SBt KSJ (1925–1990)	1 September 1969	2 March 1972	2 years, 183 days

Chiefs of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force (1972–present)

See also: Vice Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)

Rank insignia of the whole PAF was changed when ACM Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed was in the office.

No.	Portrait	Chief of Air Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Chaudhry, ZafarAir Marshal Zafar Chaudhry SQA (1926–2019)	3 March 1972	15 April 1974	2 years, 43 days
2		Khan, ZulfiqarAir Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan NI(M) (1930–2005)	16 April 1974	22 July 1978	4 years, 97 days
3		Shamim, AnwarAir Chief Marshal Anwar Shamim NI(M) SJ (1931–2013)	23 July 1978	5 March 1985	6 years, 226 days
4		Khan, JamalAir Chief Marshal Jamal A. Khan NI(M) SJ SBt (born 1934)	5 March 1985	8 March 1988	3 years, 3 days
5		Durrani, HakimullahAir Chief Marshal Hakimullah Khan Durrani NI(M) SJ SBt (1935–2024)	9 March 1988	9 March 1991	3 years
6		Khan, FarooqAir Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan NI(M) SBt (1939–2021)	9 March 1991	8 November 1994	3 years, 244 days
7		Khattak, AbbasAir Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak NI(M) SBt (born 1943)	8 November 1994	7 November 1997	2 years, 364 days
8		Qureshi, PervaizAir Chief Marshal Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi NI(M) SBt (born 1943)	7 November 1997	20 November 2000	3 years, 13 days
9		Mir, MushafAir Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir NI(M) SBt (1947–2003)	20 November 2000	20 February 2003 †	2 years, 92 days
-		Hussain Qaiser, SyedAir Marshal Syed Qaiser Hussain	20 February 2003[13]	18 March 2003	26 days
10		Saadat, KaleemAir Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat NI(M) (born 1951)	19 March 2003[14]	18 March 2006	2 years, 364 days
11		Ahmed, TanvirAir Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed NI(M) SBt (born 1952)	18 March 2006	18 March 2009	3 years, 0 days
12		Suleman, RaoAir Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M) SBt (born 1954)	19 March 2009	19 March 2012	3 years, 0 days
13		Butt, TahirAir Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt NI(M) TBt (born 1955)	19 March 2012	19 March 2015	3 years, 0 days
14		Aman, SohailAir Chief Marshal Sohail Aman NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M) (born 1959)	19 March 2015	19 March 2018	3 years, 0 days
15		Khan, MujahidAir Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M) (born 1962)	19 March 2018	19 March 2021	3 years, 0 days
16		Babar, ZaheerAir Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M) (born 1965)	19 March 2021	Incumbent	4 years, 62 days

See also

• List of serving air marshals of the Pakistan Air Force
• Pakistan Air Force ranks
• Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (Pakistan)
• Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan)
• Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan)
• Chief of the General Staff (Pakistan)