| PAF Base Korangi Creek | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Owner | Pakistan Defence Forces | ||
| Operator | Pakistan Air Force | ||
| Serves | Karachi | ||
| Location | Korangi Creek, Korangi Creek Cantonment, Karachi, Sindh | ||
| Built | 1923 | ||
| In use | Royal Air Force (1923-1949) Pakistan Air Force (1949 - Present) |
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| Commander | Air Vice Marshal Arshad Quddus | ||
| Helipads | |||
| Number | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 90,000 | |||
The PAF Base Korangi Creek is a Pakistani Air Force base located in Korangi, Karachi. The PAF Base Korangi Creek is a State-of-the-art facility involved in the development of the Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the Pakistan Defence Forces.
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The facility was established by the Royal Air Force in 1923. Located in a beach area of Karachi, the primary role of the facility was to provide the embarkation and disembarkation facilities to the RAF and other British personnel arriving by civil or military amphibious aircraft, and also to handle receipts and dispatch of cargo on these aircraft.
In 1942, the RAF leased an area of 1,007 acres (4.08 km2) from the provincial government and the station premises were then properly secured with a perimeter fence. Korangi Creek also served as a logistic base for the aircraft repair depot at Drigh Road through the supply depot there. Aircraft engines and spare parts that were brought to Korangi Creek by amphibious aircraft were eventually transferred to Drigh Road to be made use of. Much of the equipment serviced by the repair depot was channeled through Korangi to Bombay to support RAF units all over India. After independence, the station continued to be commanded and manned by RAF personnel till 1949.[1]
In December 1949, the first RPAF station commander was Wing Commander A.K. Malik.[1] At this stage, it was decided to make Korangi a technical training base for officers and airmen of the PAF. In April 1951, the first technical school was established at this station, and was named the School of Aeronautics (SOA). The school was inaugurated by the prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan. The SOA soon established its reputation as a successful training program in the PAF and abroad, and a large number of foreign countries started sending their air technicians to the base for basic training. In 1963, the School of Electronics (SOE) was moved from PAF Station Malir to Korangi Creek to become the sister institution of the SOA.
The base is implicitly used for the development of the Unmanned aerial vehicle. Pakistan's Integrated Defence Systems (IDS) and the military scientists from College of Aeronautical Engineering and Pakistan Navy Engineering College have been engaged in the research and development of UAVs and aerospace related technologies.
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