The plane that pounded Pakistani targets

NEW DELHI: In a pre-dawn raid Tuesday morning, India pounded multiple terror camps across the LoC in what is being seen as the first cross-border air strike India has carried out in nearly five decades. Leading this offensive were 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets. The planeJoined IAF in 1985, the Mirage 2000 is one of India's most versatile aircraft brought into action to counter Pakistan's US purchase, the F-16. Nicknamed Vajra, which means lightening thunderbolt in Sanskrit, this single-engine fighter aircraft comes from Dassault Aviation, the French company that also manufactures the controversial Rafale.It was used decisively in the Kargil war, effectively helping India turn the tide. Over the years the Mirage has been upgraded with a number of plug-and-play systems,including a complete overhaul in 2015. While the Mirage 2000 had used laser-guided bombs in Kargil, it was in 2015 that it gained a new radar capable of long range enemy tracking.It's backstoryIn 1999, when the Kargil War broke out, the Mirage 2000 performed tirelessly during the whole conflict even though the Mirages supplied to India had limited air interdiction capability and had to be heavily modified to drop laser-guided bombs as well as conventional unguided bombs. Armed with Paveway LGBs, the aircraft were involved in the destruction of enemy command bunkers.WeaponsThe Mirage 2000 has nine hardpoints for carrying weapon system payloads: five on the fuselage and two on each wing. The single-seat version can also be armed with two internally mounted, high-firing-rate 30mm guns.The plane has a length of 14.36 m with a total span of 9.13 m, and is capable of Mach 2.2 at high altitude. The Indian Air Force may have used GBU-12 Paveway aerial laser-guided bomb to pound enemy targets.

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