On February 26, India celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Balakot Air Strike where Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 destroyed a major terrorist training centre of Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) at Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province some 50 km from the line of control(LoC) and 80 km from the Uri town in Jammu and Kashmir. The strike was carried out by the French-made multi-role fighter jet using five SPICE 2000, a 900 kg/2000 lbs, Israeli precision guided bomb.

India claimed to have killed around 300 terrorists residing at the camp in the strike. This was India’s first violation of Pakistani air space since the war of Bangladesh Liberation in 1971.

The strike was conducted to avenge the Pulwama terror attack of February 14 wherein 40 personnel of central reserve police were killed in vehicle borne suicide attack by JeM operatives. The incident took place on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama district, Kashmir.

After the surgical strike of 2016, this was second incident when India crossed the LoC, which it didn’t even during the 1999 Kargil War and first time since 1971, India crossed the international border with Pakistan.

The Strike

To execute the strike, IAF assembled a strike package of 12 Mirage 2000 for precision strike, four Su-30MKI to provide with air cover, Phalcon - Airbourne Warning and Control System (AWACS) and Netra - Airbourne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) to provide with situational awareness and surveillance support.  To clear the path for the fighters to strike the target, IAF jets deceived Pakistan Air Force by flying directly towards Bahawalpur which was chased by PAF jets leaving path clear for Balakot. The flight package took off at 3 am in the morning and was back within 30 minutes after successfully launching five SPICE 2000 bombs at the targets. Two IL-76s mid-air refueller were also employed in the operation.

Calling the Pakistan’s Nuclear Bluff

The 1999 Kargil War fought immediately after the nuclear tests of India and Pakistan, established a fact that two nuclear powers can fight limited war below the nuclear threshold. Since, Pakistan crossed LoC and India chose not to do so, the war established that the Pakistan’s nuclear threshold was much lower and more effective. This held true after the Indian Parliament terror attack (2001) and 26/11 Mumbai attack. This reinforced the effectiveness of Pakistan’s nuclear threshold.

With the Balakot Strike India called the Pakistan’s nuclear bluff and proved that Pakistan is not as irrational as world believes.

On the fifth anniversary of the strike and it is time to evaluate whether the attack as planned and executed was the best options available to India?

Fighter Package Vs Brahmos

Was employing the fighter strike package the only option available to India for this pre-emptive strike? The answer is no. India did have a equally precise and ready to employ Indo-Russian Brahmos, supersonic cruise missile capable of precision strike at a maximum range of 290 km. India has especially developed a land attack version to cross the Himalayan heights through a specially designed trajectory. Given the availability of precise coordinates of the target, India could have launched the Brahmos at the camp at will.

It is important to note that the team involved in the strike required extremely meticulous planning and practise. In case of Brahmos that would not have been the case. The risk of interception by PAF was next to impossible. Question is why India went with a risky, time consuming, difficult and costly option?

Air Commodore Ashwinder Bahal (retd), a former fighter pilot, opines that “In terms of employment, fighter vs Brahmos, one can say cruise missiles come with some key advantages such as, no pilot and aircraft to lose or capture to interception, by air defence, no need to employ large strike packages, higher elements of surprise and accuracy and lesser early warning time. It is also more cost effective than a fighter package.”

“Sending a fighter package also comes with its own advantages. Foremost is a clear political signal that India can hit at will at the time and place of choosing. It allows flexibility to hit multiple targets spaced apart and also manage last minute changes of targets. Strike packages can defend against enemy aircraft in air,” he added.

The very next day, on February 27, PAF launched an air strike in Jammu and Kashmir and in an effort to intercept them India lost a MiG-21 to their F-16 but before being hit the fighter shot down one of the intruding F-16.

The incident of the next day is the testimony that once the sanctity of the air space is violated, air battle would be a costly affair. The cost of procurement, equipping and maintenance of fighter jets and training of its pilots, makes them a costly asset to risk in a battle of attrition.

In the ongoing Ukraine war, world is witnessing the limited employment of fighter viz-a-viz cruise missiles. Most of the deep strikes are being carried out through missiles and long-range rocket artillery. Even India seems to going the same path and has just decided to add another 200 odd Brahmos worth around USD 2.5 billion to its arsenal.