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Meet The Deadly Mirage-2000, The Fighter Jet That Destroyed Terror Camps Across LoC

byAkanksha Agarwal
26th February 2019
2 minute read

In the wee hours of the morning, the Indian Air Force conducted non-military pre-emptive surgical strikes across LoC. 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets dropped 1000 kg bombs to destroy terror camps belonging to JeM in response to the Pulwama attack which took the life of 40 CRPF jawans.

Here’s why the Mirage-2000 is touted as being India’s deadliest strategic aircraft.

40 fighter jets made by Dassault Aviation, France were purchased by India in the 1980s and inducted in the IAF in 1985. They were the only counterparts that could successfully take on Pakistan’s F-16s sourced from the US and were named ‘Vajra’ which translates to thunderbolt in Sanskrit.

According to CNN-News 18,

“The Mirage 2000 has a maximum speed of Mach 2.2 (2336 kmph) and can travel 1550 km with drop tanks… It can carry laser-guided bombs, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and has a Thomson-CSF RDY (Radar Doppler Multi-target) radar on board.”

Also, it has a lightweight engine named SNECMA M53-P2. With a length of 14.36 metre and a wingspan of 91.3 meters, it is a single-seater aircraft. However, it can be modified into a twin-seater if required. It has nine hardpoints for carrying weapons and a combat range of 1850 km.

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The Mirage-2000 turned the Kargil War in our favour

Due to its ability to fly at high altitudes, reach Mach 2.2 (twice the speed of sound) and above in terms of speed and do well in extreme climatic conditions, it was used to drop laser-guided bombs in the 1999 war with our neighbour. It successfully wiped out enemy command bunkers and helped us win the war. 10 more jets were purchased post-Kargil due to their amazing performance.

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Technological upgrades were carried out to make the aircraft deadlier.

In 2011, a contract was inked with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to upgrade them. According to NDTV, the changes include:

  • Thales RDY 2 radar which improves automatic tracking and engagement of moving targets on the ground.
  • MICA air-to-air missile which can be engaged for both long and close range targets.
  • Display feature in the pilot’s helmet to lock targets and launch missiles.

The new and improved Mirage-2000s will serve India until 2030 after which they will be replaced by the Rafale MMC jets. Currently, a total of 8 countries have this jet including Peru, Egypt, India, UAE, Qatar, Brazil, Taiwan and Greece. They truly are an asset in air defence and warfare.

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