Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)
The Chief of the Air Staff is a senior Pakistani 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 air force.
Until 2025, the Chief of the Air Staff was also a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity and usually provided necessary consultation to the erstwhile 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.
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.
Since 1985, 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. In November 2024, the term length was increased to five years. 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. On 30 March 1950, this position was re-designated as the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force. 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.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 officer to hold the latter title. The Air Force had its first four-star rank officer, Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan, in 1974. 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. Since 1974, all air chiefs have been four-star rank air force officers.
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 in Islamabad, at the vicinity of the Naval Headquarters.
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. The Chief of the Air Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands. In addition, the air chief has several staff officers:-
- Vice Chief of the Air Staff
- *Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff
- **Deputy Chief of The Air Staff — DCAS
- **Deputy Chief of The Air Staff — DCAS
- **Deputy Chief of The Air Staff — DCAS
- **Deputy Chief of The Air Staff — DCAS
- **Deputy Chief of The Air Staff — DCAS
- **Deputy Chief of The Air Staff — DCAS
- **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