At Pakistan Air Force Academy Asghar Khan graduation parade, a moment of national significance unfolded, blending tradition and transformation into a single event. Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu’s remarks to the graduating Officers were charged with purpose, offering a clear vision of a Force that not only safeguards Pakistan’s skies, but now redefines airpower and Multi-Domain Warfare across South Asia. His address distilled an era-defining conflict, endorsed the nation’s evolving strategic posture and boldly charted the course of PAF’s modernization.

From the outset, the Air Chief made clear that the graduates were stepping into a very different Air Force from the one their predecessors inherited. He reminded them that they were entering a Force “on the rise—battle-tested, technologically resurgent and globally acknowledged” a description grounded in operational experience rather than aspiration. He underlined that “the trust Pakistan places in its Armed Forces is earned through decades of sacrifice, professionalism and devotion to duty,” assuring the nation that PAF will remain “Second to None and a symbol of pride for the nation.”

At the core of this reality lies Marka-e-Haq (BunyanumMarsoos), the conflict that has become a defining reference point for air warfare in the region. The events of 06–07 May, when a numerically superior adversary attempted to impose its will across Pakistan’s airspace, continue to be dissected in professional circles. That attempt met an Air Force operating with a rare combination of speed, precision and doctrinal clarity. In what many analysts have described as one of the longest and most intense Beyond-Visual-Range air battles of the 21st........

© Pakistan Observer