ISLAMABAD: Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman took over command of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from ACM Tahir Rafique Butt at a ceremony at the Air Headquarters on Thursday.

“During the ceremony, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt handed over the ‘Command Sword’ to Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman and also decorated him with the ranks of Air Chief Marshal,” said a PAF statement.

ACM Aman was named on Wednesday as the new air chief by the government.

Speaking at the ceremony, ACM Butt said: “The last three years were full of challenges; operationally, we were also in a period that needed continuity and thorough consolidation, to materialise the hard work done by my predecessors in planning and starting the induction of various modern capabilities.”

He also spoke of the coordination with other services, particularly in the ongoing counter-militancy operation Zarb-i-Azb. “While the responses to external challenges, in complete synergy with other services, are well in place, the PAF has also been able to exploit its enhanced capabilities to play an extremely important role in supporting our valiant ground forces in their law-enforcement operations.”

The outgoing air chief also disclosed that work on JF-17 Block-III would soon begin.

“With the beginning of production of JF-17 Block-II aircraft, the programme is well on its way with minor variations and the aircraft has already been inducted in Combat Commander School to fully realise its potential as a modern platform. Government’s consent is on its way to initiate process of configuration negotiations for JF-17 Block-III aircraft as well.”

ACM Aman later called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain.

The prime minister felicitated ACM Aman on assuming new responsibilities and expressed the confidence that the latter would continue to work for enhancing the professional capacity of the PAF, the PMO said.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2015

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