How Pakistani F-16s Shot Down Russian Vice President

During the Soviet military involvement in Afghanistan, their aircraft would sometimes attack Mujahideen bases in Pakistani territory. Initially, Pakistan couldn't prevent those intrusions because it lacked modern fighter aircraft. But they managed to convince USA to sell them F-16, a state of the art fighter airplane. First results came in 1986. when F-16s shot down two Su-22s of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The first Soviet aircraft would be confirmed shot down in August 1988. And the victim was none other than a future vice-president of Russia, Alexander Rutskoy. That wasn't his first shootdown in the war either. This video tells both stories.

Sources:
- Alexander Mladenov - Osprey Combat Aircraft 109 - Su-25 'Frogfoot' Units In Combat
https://amzn.to/3T5zpkO
- Soviet Air confrontations with Pakistan Air Force, during Soviet-Afghan War
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/soviet...
- Did Pakistan’s F-16 shoot down Russian vice president’s fighter jet?
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/di...
- Air Forces - Pakistan
https://www.f-16.net/f-16_users_artic...
- In 1986, a Pakistani F-16 Almost Killed a Russian Vice President
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reb...

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