New Delhi: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that the terrorists involved in Tuesday’s Pahalgam attack on tourists from across the country, and their handlers, would be punished in a way they would never have imagined, the Indian Air Force (IAF) began ‘Exercise Aakraman’ in the country’s central sector.
According to reports, the IAF’s frontline Rafale and air-superiority Su-30MKI aircraft are primarily involved in this exercise. The aircraft are reportedly practising for complex ground attack missions in both plains and mountainous terrain. Electronic warfare drills are also being conducted.
The Su-30 MKIs now form the bulk of the IAF’s fleet. India also has two squadrons of Rafales, based at Ambala and Hasimara. According to reports, both these squadrons are participating in the exercise that also involves force multipliers, such as AWACs and mid-air refuellers.
While the heavier Su-30 MKIs can carry air-to-surface Brahmos cruise missiles (nuclear-tipped or otherwise), the Rafales can carry SCALP cruise missiles for ground attack, apart from laser-guided bombs. In 2019, the IAF had carried out the Balakot air strike using Mirage 2000 aircraft. These aircraft had then used laser-guided bombs against a terror launch pad deep inside Pakistan.
The Mirages had to get close to the target to release their bombs. The Brahmos and SCALP cruise missiles can, however, be fired from a safe distance, without endangering the aircrafts involved. According to sources, indigenous Akash and Russian-built S-400 Triumf batteries have also been put on alert to watch out for any incoming aircraft or missiles.
At the same time, Indian Navy destroyer INS Surat carried out a surface-to-air missile launch exercise in the Arabian Sea on Thursday to destroy a surface hugging projectile.
These moves by India has certainly got the Pakistani establishment worried. Islamabad knows that it cannot win a conventional war against India and threatens to go nuclear as Pakistan is not a signatory to the ‘No First Use’ treaty. However, whether Pakistan will actually decide to go nuclear and attract the wrath of every nation in the world, remains to be seen.
