New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) in its internal report claimed to hit 5 out of 6 designated targets in Balakot of Pakistan. This means the IAF achieved its strategic and operational aim of bombing the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror facility in Balakot in Pakistan. However, failed on the propaganda front, an internal review document said.
The IAF internal report revealed many facts of the Balakot air strikes. It reveals the successful use of Spice-2000 precision guided penetration bombs by Mirage-2000 fighters in the February 26 pre-dawn air strikes to the simultaneous deployment of a ‘decoy package’ of Sukhoi-30MKI jets allegedly headed towards the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur that attracted Pakistani combat air patrols away from the actual ‘strike package’.
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The document also incorporated various lessons learned from the airstrike. The Spice-2000 bombs, pre-fed with “digital scene-matching area correlators”, penetrated the roofs to kill all the “soft-skinned” inmates inside with shock and blast waves, without much external damage. But no accurate assessment of casualties was possible.
The document also discussed its failure on propaganda front and said heavy cloud cover during the strikes ensured that neither could the Mirage-2000s use their entire weapons packages, which comprised AGM-142 Crystal Maze missiles nor did the IAF get clear video footage of the demolition.