Mirage 2000s best in business

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) used Mirage 2000 fighter jets to bomb Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror pad in Pakistan’s Balakot because it is the best aircraft in the fleet with precision strike capability.The success of the operation not only shows the IAF’s capability but it is also proof of the country’s intelligence gathering set up, said an official, explaining that surgical strikes against terrorists cannot achieve desired results unless they are backed by hardcore real-time intelligence. This is not the first time the Mirages have come handy for the IAF in dealing with Pakistan. The IAF used precision bombing for the first time during the Kargil conflict when the aircraft was hurriedly improvised to fire guided bombs. The ability to deliver precision bomb was the reason it was chosen over Russian Su-30 MKIs. Officials said that a precision strike at night meant that a similar mission in the day could have taken lesser time. Unlike day, the fighters cannot fly in close proximity with each other at night. The fact that the aircraft spent 21 minutes in Pakistani air space was a remarkable feat as one minute is equal to 17 km at attack speed.