Mirage 2000 used in air strikes due to high success rate against long range targets

The Mirage 2000 aircraft used in Tuesday's strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Pakistan was chosen because of its ability to hit long-range targets with "pin-point" accuracy and drop a range of bombs and missiles including laser-guided ones, sources said. India inducted the Mirage jets some 30 years ago and the aircraft have been and are being upgraded at a cost of around Rs 20,000 crore. The multi-role, single engine jet is usually a single-pilot fighter with a range of about 1,500 km.

The French-designed jet can travel at more than twice the speed of sound, or at Mach 2.2 (2,336 kmph). It is capable of flying at an altitude of 59000 ft (17km). A commercial jetliner usually flies at 35,000 to 40,000 feet. India has other more advanced fighter jets such as the Sukhoi Su30MKI, but the Russian made jet is slower in the air with a maximum speed of 2,120 kmph or Mach 2. It is also heavier, which makes it less nimble than the Mirage with its delta wings.

Indian Air Force sources said the aircraft was preferred as it is capable of long-range engagement of targets and the assessment was that it can record 100 per cent success rate. The Mirage also is fitted with the state-of-the art Thales RDY 2 radar system and a fly-by-wire flight control system with a Sextant VE-130 HUD, or heads up display that allows the pilot to see all the flight, navigation, target and weapons information in a virtual display array.

India currently has around three squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighter jets manufactured by HAL under licence from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, which also will sell Rafale fighters to India soon. The Mirage squadrons are based in Gwalior. The sources said the Mirage 2000 multi-role aircraft was chosen for the strike for its capability to hit targets with "pin-point" accuracy. A number of other assets and platforms of the IAF were also used in the operation, first inside Pakistan after the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

The sources said India will have a much wider choice of aircraft to carry out precision strikes when Rafale jets are inducted into the IAF as they are capable of hitting targets at longer range. India is procuring 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore and the first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in September. It is not clear whether the fleet of Mirage 2000s flew directly from Gwalior or they took off from other bases to carry out the strike.

The Mirage 2000 was first commissioned in 1985, when it was given the name Vajra, or thunderbolt. India initially bought 36 single-seater Mirage 2000 and 4 twin-seater Mirage 2000 after Pakistan bought F-16 fighters manufactured by Lockheed.