On the anniversary of the Balakot airstrike, Times Now spoke to Indian Air Force head Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria in which he sent a stern message to Pakistan. The IAF chief said such an attack can be carried out again against terrorism if needed and that the IAF is much stronger today. It is to be noted here that Bhadauria was the second-in-command in the IAF when the airstrike was carried out, under the stewardship of the then IAF chief BS Dhanoa

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force redefined the nature of the conflict between India and Pakistan. It all changed on 26 February 2019 when our air warriors pierced through Pakistan's defence systems and annihilated terror havens deep in their territory. 

Pulwama had to be avenged, and so it was.

On the anniversary of the Balakot airstrike, Times Now spoke to Indian Air Force head Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria in which he sent a stern message to Pakistan. He said such an attack can be carried out again against terrorism if needed and that the IAF is much stronger today.

It is to be noted here that Bhadauria was the second-in-command in the IAF when the airstrike was carried out, under the stewardship of the then IAF chief BS Dhanoa.

When asked why Balakot was chosen as the prime target, he said, "In response to Pulwama, when the government of India decided that there would be no status quo and we would respond, that was a big change. That was a major decision that had to be taken. Thereafter, our changes decided on the target based on where the terrorists were being trained and what was the appropriate target based on the analyses of Pulwama."

"Having chosen the target, the Air Force was best suited to take on the target because of the depth, because of the weapons we carry and because of our training to be able to handle such a target. Hence, the air force. Otherwise, all three services were prepared to handle any target but it because of the nature of the target and the location that the air force was chosen, and rightly so," the IAF chief said.

Surprise Element

But did it take Pakistan by surprise, the move to mobilise the air force? Because the Indian Army had in the past carried out surgical strikes and Pakistan would have expected a similar strategy from India.

"It would have taken them by surprise to a certain extent but it is not right to say that they were expecting only the Indian Army to strike because their air force was on full air defence alert and so was their army. Once the decision to strike was taken, in spite of them being alert, we were able to achieve our mission," Bhadauria said. 

He, however, stated that since the mission has not been classified yet, it would not be possible to reveal the exact details of when and how the mission was planned.

"The mission has not yet been declassified. But, I would only say that it was a well-planned mission. We catered to every situation. We went into the mission preparing for everything. Deceptions are part of it when required," he said.

Secrecy And Precision

The IAF chief was also candid about the strikes and precision of the attack before dawn, all within a span of 21 minutes between 3:45 am - 4:04 am.

"The mission's planning was good. The secrecy with which we struck was very good. It is not easy. When you employ aircraft that are so widely dispersed, you have to arm, get together for integrated planning. So, secrecy was very important. The mission's achievement in terms of execution was very important and it was very well done. As far as their claims that some trees were burnt, if they think we missed our targets and hit the wrong locations, they should have taken media to those locations the very next day. Why didn't they? They are playing to their media," the Air Chief Marshal stated.

Bhadauria further said that once the targets were chosen, all five payloads were dropped with accuracy. "Based on the target analyses and the inputs from our agencies, once the target was selected, three buildings were chosen, and those were struck. So, five weapons were dropped to strike those three targets."

On 27 February 2019, Pakistan launched an aerial assault on India but the IAF thwarted their attempts and chased their F-16s away. 

"Yes, we knew that they are likely to hit back. We had anticipated that they will come with strength, although the weapons that they dropped and from the distance that they dropped, that level of strength may not even have been required. But they did come with huge strength, 30 odd aircraft, but we engaged them," the IAF chief said.