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A fleet of Mirage 2000 deep-penetration fighter jets was chosen for the pre-dawn strike on the biggest terror camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit in Pakistan due to the combat aircraft’s capabilities of hitting long-range targets with “pin-point” accuracy and dropping a range of bombs and missiles including laser-guided ones, government sources said.
India currently has around three squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighter jets manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation. The squadrons are based in Gwalior.
‘Pin-point’ accuracy
The Mirage 2000 is a French multi-role, single-engine fighter jet which is capable of dropping a range of bombs and missiles including laser-guided bombs.
The sources said the Mirage 2000 multi-role aircraft was chosen for the strike for its capability to hit targets with “pin-point” accuracy. A number of other assets and platforms of the IAF were also used in the operation, first inside Pakistan after the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
The Mirage 2000s are fitted with Thales RDY 2 radar which can strike at targets with 100 per cent accuracy, said an IAF official on condition of anonymity.
The aircraft was preferred as it is capable of long-range engagement of targets and the assessment was that it can record 100 per cent success rate.
Wider choice
India had inducted the Mirage jets around 30 years back and they are being upgraded at a cost of around ₹20,000 crore.
The sources said India will have a much wider choice of aircraft to carry out precision strikes when Rafale jets are inducted into the IAF as they are capable of hitting targets at longer range. India is procuring 36 Rafale jets at a cost of ₹58,000 crore and the first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in September.
“The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to taking all necessary measures to fight the menace of terrorism. Hence this non-military preemptive action was specifically targeted at the JeM camp,” said Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale .
“The selection of the target was also conditioned by our desire to avoid civilian casualties. The facility is located in thick forest on a hilltop far away from any civilian presence,” he said.
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