Overview

The Paternian Air Force consisted of 22,000 machines and 5.1 million personnel at the beginning of the conflict. Of them, 19,000 were combat types. At its end, the PAF possessed 41,000 machines and 11 million personnel. Of them, 36,000 were combat types

Overall, the Air Force, facing large numbers of inferior machines and facing powerful albeit uncoordinated ground-based anti-aircraft defenses, was able to accomplish its mission in supporting ground forces while denying the Persian Air Force said ability, at least on a tactical level.

Fighters

Fighter units, numbering 11,000 machines in the beginning of the war and maintaining that number to the end, flew 322,000 missions and 1.7 million sorties during the war, shooting down 17,518 Persian and Awwami types in exchange for 1,647 fighters, a kill-loss rate exceeding over 10:1.

The primary role was for the defense of friendly airspace and on occasion, protecting friendly attack aircraft from hostile fighters. Initially, the Paternian Air Force operated 4,000 F-7 Vipers, 5,500 F-8 Cobra, and 1,500 F-6 Renegade II. At the conclusion of hostilities, there were 1,500 F-7 Viper, 7,000 F-8 Cobra, 1,250 F-6 Renegade II, and 750 F-9 Dart II.

The success in the air was attributed to the fact the Paternian Air Force was almost always able to dictate the terms of engagement. As they were generally faster, or in some cases, stealthier than their Awwami and Persian counterparts, they could determine if and when to fight.

However, PAF fighters suffered in close-range turnfights against Awwami or Persian fighters. The only Paternian Air Force fighters that could compete at close-range combat was the F-6 Renegade II and the F-9 Dart II, both machines which entered limited service.

Attackers

Attack units, numbering 7,000 machines in the beginning of the war, grew to a force of 21,000 machines. Initially tasked with close air support of army units, and suppression of enemy air defenses, they were later tasked with long-range "intruder" strikes against precise strategic targets and long-range "hunter-killer" strikes against logistics units.

Initially, they operated 4,500 A-1 Pummelers and 2,500 A-3 Hummingbird aircraft. By the end of the war, they had 10,000 A-1 Pummelers, 5,000 A-3 Hummingbirds, 5,000 A-4 Cobras, and 1,000 A-6 Anvil.

Over the course of the war, attack squadrons dropped 90% of all airborne munitions employed by the Paternian Air Force, a total of 218 thousand tons. They also flew half of the missions, a total of 700,000 missions, and 3.6 million sorties. In the process, they destroyed 80,000 tanks, 2.1 million trucks, 58,000 pieces of rolling stock, and 75,000 barges. Attack squadrons lost a total of 3,100 A-1 Pummelers, 1,900 A-3 Hummingbirds, and 950 A-4 Cobras.

The success of the Paternian Air Force was largely due to the effective protection of the fighter force against fighter opposition as well as effective tactics which reduced the effectiveness of low-level anti-aircraft systems.

The attack squadrons were considered the most important asset of the Paternian Armed Forces, and were responsible for the majority of the damage inflicted to the Awwami and Persian forces.

Bombers

The heavy bombers, numbering 1,000 machines throughout the war, did not see much conflict, seen as too vulnerable, imprecise, and inflexible. While they launched devastating raids against Jeddah, Brisbane, Beijing, and Karachi, their effect on the war was limited. 150 bombers were lost during the course of the war, flying 3,000 sorties and 95 missions, dropping 11,000 tons of bombs. The only bomber employed is the B-3 Dominator heavy bomber.

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance units, numbering 1,000 machines at the beginning of the war, grew to 3,000 machines by the end. Flying 1,500,000 sorties, they were instrumental to the success of attack units in finding targets as well as damage assessment and general tracking. In the beginning of the war, there were 250 RA-3 Hummingbird Recce and 750 RQ-1 Finch drones. By the end, there were 1,000 RA-3 Hummingbird Recce, 1,000 RQ-1 Finch drones, 500 RQ-2 Sparrow drones, and 500 RA-8 Cobra Recce.

The Finch and Sparrow in particular was a particularly useful machine. As it was an unmanned aircraft, it could be used for much more dangerous missions that would be too risky for a manned aircraft. Hundreds were lost as a result, but their loss was not considered as important as that of manned aircraft since there was no pilot, and therefore places no Paternian personnel at risk.

Part 2 will cover transport, training, and search and rescue aircraft.