The Chief of the Air Staff (reporting name: CAS) 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 In 1957, the Government of Pakistan appointed Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan, who became the first native Commander-in-Chief. On 20 March 1972, the title of the office was changed to Chief of Air Staff with Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry being appointed as the first officer to hold the 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 (PAF) 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 (MoD). 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 (Operations) — DCAS(O) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Engineering) — DCAS(E) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Administration) — DCAS(A) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Training) — DCAS(T) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Personnel) — DCAS(P) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Support) — DCAS(S) 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
The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions since the independence of Pakistan.
(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force) Air Officer Commanding of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1947–50)
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1950-56)
Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (1956–72) Pakistan became an Islamic republic on 23 March 1956, hence royal was dropped from the name of the air force.
Chiefs of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force (1972–present)
Rank insignia of the whole PAF was changed when ACM Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed was in the office.
See also List of serving air marshals of the Pakistan Air Force Pakistan Air Force ranks Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (Pakistan) Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan) Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan) Chief of the General Staff (Pakistan)
References
Notes
External links Official Website – Pakistan Air Force Chiefs of Air Staff Gallery PAF s' Chief of the Air Staffs