However critical one may be of the armed forces of Pakistan, there is a general consensus amongst both experts and lay public that one branch of it, namely, the Pakistan Air Force has always given a good account of itself. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is the only world class institution that Pakistan has produced in its chequered history. This fact is not only borne out in all the previous wars but most brilliantly and indisputably during operation Swift Retort in 2019, the last time Pakistan and Indian Air forces locked horns, after the war of 1971. During that fateful day on Feb 27, 2019, PAF enabled Pakistan to establish its conventional deterrence and prevented India from setting a new norm of launching punitive air strikes against Pakistan at will with impunity. Indian dream of emulating Israeli paradigm in Sub-continent was shattered by PAF with a brilliant riposte in less than 24 hours. In that aerial conflict, incidentally the only one in the annals of Airwar in which both sides used BVR weapons and AWACS platforms, PAF completely dominated the skies. India's resort, in the aftermath, to the threat of escalation by using Brahamos rather than sustaining air operations which it initiated on 26th, was as clear an admission of aerial defeat as one could get.