Plane Talk

By Amir Zia

Newsline 

March 2019

The Pakistan Air Force’s successful shooting-down of two Indian Air Force planes graphically illustrated the former’s superiority in air power.

There are more than 40,000 madrassas (seminaries) in almost every nook and corner of Pakistan. For the Modi government, hitting any one of them in an airstrike and declaring it a terrorist centre would have served as a good propaganda tool: a seminary destroyed and the bodies of dead militants ie. success by the standards of current western and Indian conventional wisdom.  That’s what Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped to achieve to intensify pressure on Pakistan, get western public opinion and capitals behind him, and satisfy the war thirst of his own constituency of hardline extremist Hindus.

On February 26, any one of the several madrassas in Balakot, where Afghan and Kashmiri militants once used to operate a centre, was their target. In fact, that centre had been closed a long time ago, after former President Pervez Musharraf announced a ban on more than 20 militant groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2002. The screws were further tightened during subsequent crackdowns in 2005 and onwards.

The Indians, meanwhile, had, without producing any evidence to corroborate this, been shouting themselves hoarse that Jaish-e-Mohammed was behind the February 14 Pulwama suicide attack that had killed more than 40 of its soldiers.  

In the wake of the Indian propaganda, and its web of what is increasingly being proved to be lies, Prime Minister Imran Khan offered Prime Minister Modi talks and expressed a willingness to help in investigating the Pulwama incident. Instead, the Indians started mobilising troops in line with their “Cold Start” strategy. Pakistan reacted with parallel manoeuvres and mobilisation as per its doctrine, which has been in place since the days of General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, which has made India’s Cold Start strategy ineffectual by stealing the element of surprise from it.

In a state of high alert due to Indian warmongering, Pakistani radars first detected the enemy aircraft heading toward the country from the Lahore-Sialkot sector in the wee hours of February 26. Pakistan’s Combat Air Patrol (CAP), which was already in the air, headed straight out to face them.

Minutes later, a second Indian aircraft formation was detected in the Okara-Bahawalpur sector and Pakistan’s second CAP was scrambled into the air. Later, a third and a heavier formation of Indian aircraft was spotted by the radar, heading towards the Line of Control. Within moments, a third CAP, from a peace-time base, took to the air.

Out of the 14 aircraft despatched, four Indian aircraft crossed the LoC four to five nautical miles into Pakistan at around 2:55 am and remained in the Pakistani airspace for around four minutes, turning back when they detected Pakistani aircraft approaching. They left, firing four missiles as they headed out, which landed in a deserted area in Balakot. Pakistani aircraft did not have a knee-jerk reaction and go in hot pursuit. But the Pakistani armed forces, which were already on alert, prepared to react.

“There is no blind spot on our eastern frontier, where our radars remain focused 24/7,” said a senior military official. “Especially, during times like these, we have to be extra vigilant and alert.”

Pakistanis wanted to respond to the Indian aggression immediately. But, according to a senior Pakistan Army officer, “we wanted to gauge the extent of damage first.” Within 30 to 40 minutes after the missiles had been dropped, the exact location where they landed was identified. And it was learnt that barring knocking  out a few trees, no damage was done, he said. Later, when local and foreign media personnel visited the site, their account corroborated Pakistan’s official claim.  

Pakistan reacted the next day in broad daylight as its JF-17 Thunder aircraft, without crossing into Indian-occupied territory, locked the Indian military positions, but fired close to them to avoid major damage and prevent casualties. One of the targets which was locked was an Indian Brigade’s Headquarters, where senior Indian military officials were also present at the time of the attack. They heard the pounding and knew that Pakistan had responded.

Keeping up with the Pakistani tradition of being one-up, the Pakistani Air Force fired six missiles compared to India’s four. The intent was to make it clear to the Indians that any aggression would be matched by similar, but greater retaliation, says the army officer.

In response to the Pakistani strike, the Indians then again sent their aircraft across the LoC, but found the Pakistani Air Force ready for them. Two Indian aircraft were shot. One Indian Mig 21 crashed in Azad Kashmir, its pilot ejected and was later arrested. The pilot of the other plane, a Russian SU – 30, tried to make it back across the border, managed to cross the LoC, but crashed before he could eject, and was killed.

Compared to Indian pilots, who have not seen any real action, Pakistani pilots are battle-hardened and better trained because of the ongoing war against terrorism in which they have to dive to physically spot their targets to hit them. That the Indian Air Force pilots are less experienced can be gauged by the two operating the aircraft which breached the LoC. They fired missiles randomly and at too high an altitude, and the results speak for themselves. 

Later in the day, after the shooting down of the two Indian aircraft, the National Command Authority went into a huddle. 

 “Now it is up to the Indians whether they want to climb the escalation ladder further or go for an exit,” said the senior Pakistan Army official. “Pakistan is ready for both scenarios – escalation as well as de-escalation.”

Ends