Dragon Fire

Indian Air Force Base, Lohegaon, Maharastra

On the radio command ‘Shikar’ the aircraft roared along the runway. The early morning sun flashed through the cockpit onto the instrument panels for the two crew and the distinctive tail-fins of the aircraft from No. 24 Squadron ‘Hunting Hawks’ shook on take-off as one by one the pilots took their aircraft up. Their serial numbers were SB 076, SB 082, SB 083, SB 084, SB 091 and SB 092.

The mission could have been carried out with different aircraft: the MiG-27s from the ‘Scorpios’ Squadron; the multi-role MiG-29s from the secretive No. 223 Squadron; the French-built Mirage 2000H from No. 1 ‘Tigers’ Squadron; or even the British Jaguars, which had been adapted to carry nuclear weapons. But the six planes lined up at the Indian Air Force base east of Bombay, painted in the national tricolour livery of saffron, white and green, were the cream of the country’s air force. Russian-designed but Indian-built, the SU-30MKI was one of the most formidable combat aircraft in the world. Such was Russia’s enthusiasm for the SU-30 that many other aircraft projects were starved of cash in order to develop it. As a buyer, India’s historic military relationship with the Soviet Union and then with Russia gave it the first option. Once the order was secured, Russia refused supplies to potential enemies, such as China and Pakistan. This was why India had now chosen to make a show of using the sort of airpower that its neighbouring enemies would never now possess.

The SU-30 series was initially designed as a long-range interceptor, to provide cover for Russia’s naval forces and to patrol the enormous and remote border areas. The MKI export version acquired by India had been built with a multi-role added ground-attack capability, and the problems it had encountered in the late nineties had now been solved. The Russian avionics systems had been replaced by French and Israeli cockpit instrumentation suites, with a special feature of four-liquid colour displays for both the pilot in the front and the gunner and weapons-systems operator, on a slightly raised seat behind for better vision. The division of the workload between the two crew was balanced to ensure maximum range and highest air-superiority endurance. The specialized equipment in the rear cockpit also allowed the aircraft to act as a mini-AWACs and command post. The primary weapon sensor was a Zhuk N001 pulse Doppler multimode radar with a range of 105 kilometres, with which it could track two airborne targets up to 75 kilometres. A secondary weapons sensor was the Infrared Search and Tracking system (IRST), with a 370 kilometre range.

The aircraft had been specially equipped for this mission, and did not carry typical weapons packages. The air-to-air missile systems were limited because India did not expect enemy aircraft to be scrambled and intercepted during the few minutes the strikes would take. A decision had also been taken not to use free-fall bombs, in order to prevent allegations of indiscriminate attack.

The pilots retained their helmet-mounted sights for use with close-combat R-77 missiles in a look-and-shoot capability, together with air-to-surface missile and jamming pods for destroying and disabling air-defence systems. Their main attack weapons were the 30mm cannon, for strafing, air-to-surface missiles, including the Kh-31P anti-radar missiles and laser-guided fire-and-forget missiles, and laser-guided bombs.

When Group Captain Amrit Dhal reached 33,000 feet he sent the single high-frequency radio message ‘Checkmate’.

Flying at more than Mach 2, they were less than forty minutes from reaching their target. At high altitude, the SU-30MK had a range of 3,200 kilometres, and 7,250 kilometres with air-to-air refuelling. It would not be used this time; the aircraft were due to return to the big airbase in Ambala, just south of Chandigarh, where they would stay until the potential for conflict had diminished.

After taking off to the east, the warplanes turned north until they reached Srinagar, 1,700 kilometres away. The take-off from Lohegaon was picked up by Pakistani radar operators, but did not prompt any alert. It could have been nothing but a routine operation. At Srinagar, though, the aircraft turned due west and within minutes had burst through Pakistani airspace. The targets were between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above sea level. Five of the aircraft dropped to as low as 2,000 feet above ground as they flew across the Line-of-Control into Pakistani territory.