The Pakistan Air Force failed to detect the presence of theIndian fighter jets as it was already too late for them as their surveillancesystem had been jammed by the IAF during its raid at Balakot militant campearly on Tuesday, sources said.
The Indian package had at least two jets mounted withelectronic warfare (EW) system that helped jam the Pakistani radars.
A “package” in military terms refers to grouping of varioustypes of jets with different functions. A package typically consists of EWjets, the bombers and the protector jets that secure the bombers from enemyjets as bombers themselves are not in a position to effectively retaliatethanks to heavy payload.
A package usually consists of a minimum of 10-12 and maximumof 39-40 fighter jets, depending upon the requirements of the operation athand.
In the Tuesday’s “non-military preemptive” strike, the IAFused 10-12 Mirage 2000 multi-role aircraft of which at least three werebombers.
In the Indian package, usually Su-30 and Mig 29 jets areused as protectors. But they were possibly not used in Tuesday’s operation asMirage is a multirole aircraft that can act as a bomber, protector and an EWcarrier.
The Mirage 2000 bombers used guided bombs with GPScoordinates fed into them to strike with precision and avoid any collateraldamage.
The Mirage jets were chosen for the mission as thisparticular guided bomb system can be used with Mirage only, sources said.
Later, at an all-party meet in the national capital onTuesday evening, the leaders cutting across party lines praised the Indian AirForce for its precision and professionalism as it hit the militant launch padwithout incurring any loss to civilian life or hitting any Pakistani militarytarget.
Sources in the Defence Ministry said that Pakistan has “verylimited” options to retaliate short of inciting a fulfledged war which it canpossibly not afford.
“Clearly, they cannot hit back in a similar way as they haveno targets on our side of LoC. We don’t have any terror camps here which theycan hit. If they hit an Indian military target, they would have no jus adbellum (a set of criteria that are to be consulted before engaging in war inorder to determine whether entering into war is permissible, that is, whetherit is a just war). It would mean sparking a fullfledged war,” a senior officialtold IANS on condition of anonymity.
“Pakistan may resort to terror strikes, but in that case itcannot take the ownership. That means it cannot tell its people that it hasdone that. Also, it will again invoke a retaliatory action from India,” theofficial said.
“One of the achievements of this strike is, apart fromdestroying a terrorist launch pad and avenging Pulwama attack, India has drivenhome the point that it can act with ‘conventional’ means againstsubconventional warfare by Pakistan,” he added.
He said that at most Pakistan could perhaps scale up firingat Line of Control (LoC).
True to India’s assessment, Pakistan on Tuesday eveningresorted to heavy firing and shelling in Akhnoor, Nowshera and Krishna Ghatisectors along the LoC in ceasefire violation.