LTV A-7D Corsair II - No.25 Squadron 'The Night Eagles' Pakistan Air Force, 1975
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War a large number of Pakistan Air Force pilots immediately volunteered to fight against Israel with an initial batch of 16 pilots arriving in Egypt in mid-October and with further batch being prepared for Syria. This quickly came to the attention of President Nixon who despatched Henry Kissinger to Karachi to persuade Pakistan President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to keep Pakistan out of any involvement in the conflict. Whilst the nature of this meeting between Kissinger and Bhutto has never been officially revealed it is known that Pakistan Air Force pilots in Egypt were immediately withdrawn and those on their way to Syria were turned around in mid-flight. Can it be any coincidence that in early 1974 30 ex-USAF A-7D's were gifted to Pakistan?