IAF chief takes sortie to mark operation anniv

NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Saturday flew in a multi-aircraft formation from a premier air base in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior to mark the second anniversary of the Balakot operations — India’s unprecedented, peacetime cross-border strikes on the back of the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack, people familiar with the developments said.

Bhadauria flew a Mirage 2000, the aircraft that was used for bombing Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) targets in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019, said one of the officials cited above.

“The IAF chief flew with pilots from the squadrons that were part of the operations,” he said.

The five-aircraft formation consisted of Mirage 2000s and Sukhoi-30 fighters.

IAF on Tuesday also released a video of a precision strike carried out by Mirage 2000s against a dummy target in Rajasthan to mark the second anniversary of the cross-border air strikes. “The strike was carried out by members of the squadron that carried out the actual operations,” the official said. The fighter jets dropped Spice 2000 bombs on the practice target.

The IAF’s Mirage 2000s hit three targets in Balakot with five Israeli-origin Spice 2000 bombs with penetrator warheads that allowed them to pierce through the rooftops before exploding inside to cause maximum damage. While the actual bombing was carried out by the Mirages, Su-30s were part of the IAF’s strike package that day.