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Balakot, two years on: What changed for Indian Air Force since airstrike
YB WEB DESK. Dated: 2/27/2021 12:32:29 PM
New Delhi, Feb 26 Two years ago on February 26, the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted an airstrike in Balakot, Pakistan in response to the death of over 40 CRPF personnel on February 14, 2019, in a suicide terror attack conducted by Pakistanbased terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Since then, a lot has changed for the IAF. The force has undertaken several reformative measures to bolster its operational capabilities. Since February 2019, India has acquired several fighter jets, assault weapons and missile systems. The induction of Rafale aircraft was expedited post the Balakot strike. India received the first batch of five Rafale aircraft on July 29, 2020, which were, subsequently, inducted into the 17 'Golden Arrows' Squadron on September 10 at the Ambala Air Base. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft has given a boost to IAF’s air dominance. The second batch of three Rafale combat aircraft arrived in India on November 4, 2020. Three more combat aircraft landed in India on January 27, taking the fleet size to 11. Manufactured by the French company Dassault Aviation, the Rafale is a 4.5 generation combat aircraft and has the latest weapons, superior sensors and fully integrated architecture. It is an omni-role aircraft, meaning it can carry out at least four missions in one sortie. The fighter jet also has HAMMER missiles. It is armed with beyond visual range missiles like Meteor, SCALP and MICA, increasing its ability to take on incoming targets from a distance. The IAF also received a second airborne warning plane in 2019. Netra, an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft, had played a crucial role during the Balakot airstrikes. It had provided surveillance and radar coverage to the five Mirage jets that bombed the JeM facility in Balakot in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Designed and developed by the DRDO, Netra is fitted with indigenously developed electronics and hardware. It is useful for surveillance, tracking, identification and classification of airborne and sea surface targets and is useful in detecting incoming ballistic missile threats.