This successful operation by India's time-tested leading fighter jet-Mirage-2000, also known for turning the tide in India’s favour during the Kargil war, has once again proved its tactical advantage

New Delhi: Eleven days after the gruesome and dastardly Pulwama attack on security personnel by Pakistani proxies - the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) - that killed over 40 Jawans, India retaliated hard by carrying out airstrikes well within Pakistan airspace targeting the JeM's terror training camps.

According to news agency ANI, it was the 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets which took part in the covert operations across the Line of Control at 3:30 am and completely destroyed the targets.

This successful operation by time-tested India’s leading fighter jet-Mirage 2000, also known for turning the tide in India’s favour during Kargil war, has once again proved its tactical advantage in the case of limited conflict.

Compared to Sukhoi Su-30MKI which is India’s most priced aircraft designed mainly for a prolonged conflict, the Mirage 2000 takes the edge in quick operations owing to its less weight and higher speed.

Having undergone a complete overhaul in 2015 it has got the new Thomson-CSF RDY (Radar Doppler Multi-target) radar on board which is capable of tracking the enemy locations from long distance. The single-engine aircraft has a fly-by-wire flight control system and a Sextant VE-130 HUD (Head-up Display)-which displays data related to flight control.

Besides, the role of Mirage-2000 is well recognised in case of limited air-borne operations owing to unique load-carrying capacity, precision, and laser-guided Bombs. These include the MBDA BGL 1000 laser-guided bomb, MBDA AS30L, MBDA Armat anti-radar missile, MBDA AM39 Exocet anti-ship missile, MBDA rocket launchers, MBDA Apache stand-off weapon, and the stealthy cruise missile, SCALP.

Post upgradation what has led to its increased utility specially for night operations are the features of state-of-the-art glass cockpit with multi-colour, multi-function displays in place of previous era analogue gauges. 

Way back 1982, India looked towards having an aircraft which could be an answer to Pakistan’s F-16 provided to it by the USA. Mirage-2000 developed by French company Dassault Aviation was first commissioned in Indian Air force in 1985. Post its recent upgradation, the Mirage-2000 is well on the path to provide its services to Indian armed forces for another 30 years.