CHENNAI: Air Marshal Simhakutty Vardhaman (retired), father of wing commander Abhinandan, the fighter pilot who used to be in short in Pakistan custody, mentioned on Wednesday that the laser-guided smart bombs (SPICE - 2000) used to assault the terror camp at Balakot could have killed 250 to 300 terrorists.
Talking to students of defence studies at IIT-Madras concerning the air strikes at the Jaish-e-Muhammed coaching camp at Balakot, he mentioned, "The Indian Air Force strike happened when maximum targets were inside the camp. The structural damage might be limited, but the fuse of the bomb is delayed to ensure maximum casualties."
"Pakistan's F-16s and AMRAAM missiles were the real threat to us. We had to first get F-16s off our back by making sure they were headed to some other direction when we were going to Balakot. So we did a lot of deception," he mentioned. "Basically, we launched seven aircrafts towards Bahawalpur, which is the headquarters of JeM. Pakistan thought we were on the way to attack Bahawalpur and sent F-16s to engage with our fighter aircrafts. Simultaneously, we launched aircrafts to attack Balakot. In a nutshell, the Pakistan Air Force was deceived completely," he explained.
Air Marshal Vardhaman mentioned Pakistan used to be in a state of alert and knew an assault from India used to be drawing close. "However, they did not realise that we got into their territory," the decorated Air Marshal mentioned, adding that this used to be his reading of the events, which will not be absolutely the fact.
Talking to students of defence studies at IIT-Madras concerning the air strikes at the Jaish-e-Muhammed coaching camp at Balakot, he mentioned, "The Indian Air Force strike happened when maximum targets were inside the camp. The structural damage might be limited, but the fuse of the bomb is delayed to ensure maximum casualties."
"Pakistan's F-16s and AMRAAM missiles were the real threat to us. We had to first get F-16s off our back by making sure they were headed to some other direction when we were going to Balakot. So we did a lot of deception," he mentioned. "Basically, we launched seven aircrafts towards Bahawalpur, which is the headquarters of JeM. Pakistan thought we were on the way to attack Bahawalpur and sent F-16s to engage with our fighter aircrafts. Simultaneously, we launched aircrafts to attack Balakot. In a nutshell, the Pakistan Air Force was deceived completely," he explained.
Air Marshal Vardhaman mentioned Pakistan used to be in a state of alert and knew an assault from India used to be drawing close. "However, they did not realise that we got into their territory," the decorated Air Marshal mentioned, adding that this used to be his reading of the events, which will not be absolutely the fact.
Balakot toll could be 300: Abhinandan's father
![Balakot toll could be 300: Abhinandan's father]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
April 04, 2019
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