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Why Pakistan is unlikely to procure a lead-in-fighter-trainer (LIFT)
On December 11, 2017 the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) inaugurated a new lead-in-fighter-training (LIFT) unit to prepare pilots for transitioning to the JF-17 and F-16, which form the mainstay of the PAF fighter fleet. Reported by Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations’ (ISPR) through its monthly Hilal magazine, the new LIFT unit – designated “Shooter Squadron” – will be stationed at PAF Base M.M. Alam, located in Mianwali.
In his speech for the inauguration event, PAF Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Sohail Aman outlined that “the pilots being trained [in Shooter Squadron] should adapt to an exhaustive academic and flying curriculum under the supervision of the finest of the instructor pilots.”
Hilal describes the LIFT unit as “an innovative idea of establishing a temporary flying squadron which would serve as a lead in fighter training … this squadron would give the future [pilots] enough confidence to ultimately undergo their conversions [on the F-16 and JF-17].”
The PAF had been examining the idea of raising a dedicated LIFT unit since at least 2015, when the current CAS told Air Forces Monthly that it had examined numerous LIFT platforms.[1] In general, LIFT aircraft are platforms designed to acclimate new pilots to fast jets in the lead-up to their conversion on frontline aircraft. For the PAF, the objective of procuring a LIFT aircraft was to ease the process of converting new and less-experienced pilots to the JF-17 or F-16 from the F-7P/PG and Mirage III/5 sooner (i.e. 250 hours instead of 400-500 hours in prior years).[2]
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