New Delhi: A year after Pakistan outgunned and outnumbered the Indian Air Force on 27 February through “Ops Swift Retort”, not much has changed on the ground.
Pakistan was armed with better fighter planes, Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missiles like AMRAAMs and backed by state-of-the-art SAAB airborne warning and control systems (AWACS), and left the Indian Air Force wanting in many places.
From limitations of the Su 30 MKI radar to pick up enemy fighters properly to the technical issue faced by the Mirage 2000 aircraft over firing their Mica air-to-air missile, the list of the shortcomings that the IAF experienced is long.
If Pakistan were to repeat the “Swift Retort” today, the situation doesn’t look great even a year later.
There is, however, a silver lining — the Rafale fighter jets, to be equipped with better weapons package, especially the Meteor air-to-air missile that tilts the scales in India’s favour against both Pakistan and China, will start arriving May onwards.
Also read: Inside story of attack on Balakot — from IAF officer who planned and executed it
Neither Pakistan nor China at present has a missile to counter the Meteor, which has a range of nearly 150 km — it’s much higher than the American AMRAAM that had outgunned the Sukhois with a range of over 70 km.
This means that a Rafale would be able to take out an enemy aircraft 150 km away in air without even having to cross the Indian air space.
But it will take at least a year for the first four Rafales to be completely operationalised with their weapons system.
Also, the much-needed Software Defined Radios (SDR) have finally been ordered from Israel which will help secure communication without fear of jamming.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was shot down after he failed to hear command to retreat given by the ground-based command centre because of jamming carried out by the Pakistan Air Force.
India is also in the process of clearing the acquisition of two more PHALCON AWACS, which will help the IAF have round-the-clock eye in the sky.
The lack of more AWACS was felt during the 27 February aerial dual when Pakistan, which operates about 10 such systems, took advantage of the changeover of the IAF’s eye in the sky.
The only actual change that has taken place on the ground is that the MiG 29 has been replaced with the Su 30 MKI as the additional fighter at the Srinagar base that houses the 51 Squadron of the MiG 21 Bisons.
However, plans to permanently base the Su 30 MKI cannot be implemented immediately because the hangars in Srinagar can’t accommodate the giant Russian fighters, defence sources told ThePrint.
This means that the Sukhois will have to fly in from other bases in case of yet another skirmish.
Also read: Wing Commander Abhinandan being shot down is the real Rafale scandal
How Pakistan retaliated for Balakot
Around 8:45 am on 27 February, the first signs of a possible attack emerged as Pakistan shut down its civilian airspace and stopped all commercial flights.
About half-an-hour later, multiple Pakistan fighter jets, perfectly timed with the changeover of IAF AWACS, started taking off from different bases.
At that particular moment, only two Su 30 MKI in the south of the Pir Panjal and two upgraded Mirage 2000, north of the mountains, were doing the Combat Air Patrol (CAP).
The Pakistani package of 25 fighters, including the F 16s and the Mirages, made their way towards the LoC but did not cross the mutually agreed 10 km cut-off point for fighters.
A few Pakistani fighters took off in the direction of the international border with Rajasthan in a bid to trick India, just like India had done the previous day.
Leading the Pakistan strike package was the F-16s armed with the AMRAAMs.
The American-built fighters moved towards the south of the Pir Panjal while the Mirages moved towards where the other two Indian fighters were flying.
Also read: Pakistani military plane that crashed was used for surveillance after Balakot strikes
What went wrong
Sources said the Indian fighters were simply outnumbered.
The Sukhois with their R-77 missiles, which have a range that’s shorter than the AMRAAMs, were no match for the F-16s that had better air-to-air weapons.
Sources said one Sukhoi was fired upon by the F-16s and had to take high-speed maneouvres to outgun the AMRAAMs.
The second Sukhoi too took tactical action keeping in mind that they were told by the Barnala-based Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) that AMRAAMs were being fired.
The second Sukhoi had also failed to properly pick up the enemy fighters through its radars.
On the northern side of the Pir Panjal, the upgraded Mirages on CAP duty were outnumbered completely. They had also faced a technical glitch because of which they could not engage Pakistan Air Force (PAF) with the MICA air-to-air missiles that have a better range than the ones used by PAF in that sector.
Panicked PAF pilots break into Punjabi
Realising that the Indian fighters were outgunned and outnumbered, the Barnala-based IACCS ordered the scrambling of six MiG-21s.
Since the MiGs climbed in the shadow of the Pir Panjal range, Pakistan’s AWAC failed to detect them. The sudden appearance of the MiGs proved to be a blessing for India, as the Pakistani fighters were taken aback.
Panicked Pakistani pilots, who broke into Punjabi rather than sticking to the military codes, fired about 11 H-4 glide-bombs, weighing 1,000 kg each, at Indian military installations, none of which hit the target.
The MiG pilots were then asked to “go hot”, meaning they had to go in for a missile lock on enemy aircraft. But the MiGs soon came within the firing range of the F-16s, and they were asked to “turn cold”, meaning they were to retreat.
However, Wing Commander Varthaman, who had gone too close to the LoC, could not hear the command as Pakistan had jammed radio frequencies.
In his pursuit of locking on to a Pakistani fighter, Varthaman crossed the LoC and was within the firing range of Pakistani fighters.
Also read: ‘Make chai, not war’ – Imran Khan’s message that almost won him the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
“The Print” — What are you searching or trying to figure out your numbers???
Be where you are, don’t try to be “the print media of India”
F 16 was crashed
No news why???
If there is a news that confirmed by them f16 crash because of a mig 21 a 3rd gen if it’s real a big news and it is huge loss for usa than pakistan because they are sell f16 to many countries if those countries know that this 3 gen fighter could take down a f16 no one will buy f16 that’s really huge problem for usa
Quantity doesn’t matter for Pakistan Air Force, it is only courage and domination. IAF can never entre in Pakistan terrotory, if India will repeat it the result would be more unforgettable for dirty India.
Wow…. So all this secret information of the whole incident is shared with this genius writer. Either he is living in a dream or it is shared by his Pok friends… Lol
Article is good for a story book, but too far from practicality and truth.
You guys are such arrogant fools for such headlines
What comparison have you done in terms of count and firepower of both air forces?
To demean a party, you guys will demean a force and government too, stopped so low that now you want to suck on enemy country.
The IAF was outnumbered but the IAF pilots with the 2nd generation Mig 21s were too good for the PAF pilots armed with advanced fourth generation F-16s who could not even execute the mission they were assigned.
Kindly respect our brave men and do not defame them with your rubbish writings.
Thia is just a cover up to ensure smooth induction of Rafaels coming to India shortly, without any public outcry for investigations for not following purchase protocol and misuse of public funds. Ha Ha. Innovative approach.
What kind of clowns write articles for Print? This joker expects things to change in a year when procurement related decisions were not made for more than a decade!
Print get some professionals to vet articles don’t PRINT such crap.
FRom this account it appears that in case this is true, we had less aircraft than Pakistan and every one of our models had some technical glitch or the other. Yet we hear from our politicians endless poking of fun at Pak and one even said we will deal with them in ten days !! It does not look as if we are dealing with a struggling nation , economically in chaos and riven with internal strife. The sooner we get to understand Pak’s true strengths , the better , and let us not be misguided by our BJP politicians’ hype.
How much you paid by the IAF to write this bullshit article!!!
Firstly correct your misleading information about the PAF fighters engaged on that day, the PAF JF-17 Thunder fighters were engaged not F-16 Falcon fighters on that day.
Secondly Pakistani JF-17 Thunder deliberately fired the missiles near the Indian Army installations just to gave warning to them that PAF could also hit the target but has given another chance to Indian Armed forces to restrain from any such misadventure / cowardly action in the future.
Thirdly and Lastly the Pakistan Armed forces are far ahead of Indian Armed forces in each and every aspect and department, so advise to Indian Armed forces “never play with the fire” .
PAKISTAN ZINDABAD
LONG LIVE PAKISTAN
Well you’d like to believe it were JF17 and not F16
Patriotic frog in well will believe that it is the most powerful creature on earth, it has no idea what a lion is. Release your brain from bank locker by paying dues.
Coming to your crazy belief
As per military power rankings
World believes that
1.USA 2.RUSSIA 3.CHINA 4.INDIA 5.FRANCE……………15.PAKISTAN
Pakistan believes that
1.Pakistan 2.Turkey 3.Asif gafoor with his horse 4.Mr.bajwa with his sword. 5. Patriotic pakistani
Being patriotic doesnt change facts.
No offense, i dont hate pakistan or any other country, being a human, living in humanity, i hate terrorism where ever it is acting from
You guys know better , where the most sacred human osama bin laden is hiding in when he was shot dead.
What do you care about OBL? You have your own Hindu Nazis in charge of your country with much more bloodshed on your hands. Plus you lost to Pak in dogfight when it mattered!
Remember the name
BRAHMOS MISSILE
And wait for the moment India procures S400
And then you patriotic people should hide behind your shadows
We know your bravery. Surrendered with 93000 in nos & lost half ur country.
Far ahead, you champus surrendered to us in 1971 and that too when you were backed by US and it’s weapons. Jf17 is crap, yes glide bomb of South African will miss target like it hapoened, all proves your failure.
I am an Indian and my father was in air force. I have to admit that Pakistan outputs indian air force at least.
Here is why:
– it has more and modern awac – not only it is eye in the sky but it supplements fighter radar that is not powerful enough to guide missiles. India would loose heavily in air combat if there is any such war.
– Pakistan weak point is its economy. Northern indian economy is same but southern India saves entire india. Note that states like Gujarat, UP and bihar almost takes three times the money it gives to center. Southern states take less than half. Note the Gujarat here. So much for “shining” .
– indian armed forces rely on weak minded people who will not mind doing boot polish etc. You cannot expect lot from such culture.
– too much cheap alcohol and fake British officer mess culture.
Also, you forgot to mention helicopter that was shot down. So much unprofessionalism.!
Also, second plane mystery is still not solved. Usa controls pakistan by the **** and imran is mi6 agent and thus cia agent as well.
I love Bulleya and every indian and pakistani should listen to all sufi music. That is only thing that can bring sanity on both sides.
haha the fact is Indian air force comes in tier 2 along with China,Britain etc…..Pakistani airforce is nothing compared to Indian af….just hate on the government and not the army pls….tell now come a country with more defence budget be inferior to a country with far lesser defence budget….Just to defame the government you are defaming our country and our army….You must be high….lol how is this even possible when Pakistani defence budget to so low compared to that of India’s
lol India would lose heavily in the air combat?….man what a insulting statement for every Indian….it can’t get more insulting…..You should go and see the reports where they have a list of best air forces in the world….how the fuck India will lose heavily?….have you gone mad…..do you even know what it means to lose heavily
And all this was told by an Israeli air force official….Pakistani has more and better modern awacs?….one of best jokes I have heard in his year ….you should also say that Pakistan has more fighter planes compared to India….would be a much better joke
hmmm Pakistani armed forces are better than Indian armed forces in every aspect?…..?….bruh are you brainwashed?….don’t become a terrorist later on
Can’t believe the author and the media is Indian.
Han. Mujhe bhi aisa hi laga article padh kar. Lakh kami ho hamari Indian Airforce mein, Lekin hamein uska saath dena chahiye. Har maa apne bacche ko laal ho kahti hai.
lakh kami nhi bhai….our air force is considered top 6 in the world…..ye baat Israel ke airforce official ne boli thi….usne bola tha ki if America,Russia,Isreal and France comes in tier 1 air force then India,China,Great Britain comes in tier 2….
Full of misinformation and lies. First, package comprised of F-16, JF17 and mirages as informed by IAF during it’s press conference. 2nd, Muarhea dropped 2 H4, not 11 and JF 17s dropped 4 1000 lbs REKs from 20km inside the border. So going Helter skelter doesn’t make any sense. 3rd, F-16 fired 2 AMRAAM and not multiple as suggested. H 4 video released by PAF has clearly shown that PAF pilot steered away H 4 after putting croos hair on IA ammo Depot.
…this narrative is so different to reports even mentioned by Pakistan….what u smoking…so Pakistan aircraft just came in to show strength…and waltz back without dropping anything…they could have easily blown ayleast oil depot if they could have….just to prove a point.. gimme a break spin master
Cook and bull story shameless Indians cartoon goons son of Golium
Is this a Pakistan writer
Moral to fight and die is not sold anywhere. What will IAF do about that
Looks like someone is reporting for Pakistan.
How easily you have degraded indian IAF.
Dear Print…. It appears you are working on behalf of ISI and Pakistan. Please don’t hide behind fake names and reveal your true identity. If only written English could win wars/cross border operations then your work would have given you complete Jammu and Kashmir… Keep doing what you are good at and let the Indian Armed Forces do what they are good at…
It shows how careless and unprepared our airforce and army in a critical situation
Lots of technical misdocumentation in this article. Sukhois spoofed 4-5 Amraam Missiles! The then variant of R77 had range of 80km compared to the latest RVVSD variant of 110km. The situation is better with the procurement of R27Er and Et boasting range of 130km. India’s indigenous Astra can reach Mach 4.5 with a maximum range of 110km. Besides, as Air Force chief R.K. Bhaduria has asserted a repetition of operation Swift Retort will be inflicted with massive attrition this time. India has deployed heavier SAM Akash at LOC along with Bramhos. Last but not least, you should have done some research about the power of Sukhois’ radar. Though we will upgrade them with AESA Radar, the present radar can detect targets from 400km away. Sukhois are able to detect Chinese J20 flying over Tibet and u r writing shit about the poor radar. Our Air defence system challenged them and intercepted their fighter jets unlike their radars that were caught napping in the pre Dawn hour.
The author is getting paid for writing what he has written. If only he understood the meaning of the word traitor
Perhaps the authorwas on high dose of cheap weed to cook this self made fiction
No where you have mentioned about the f16 shot down by Sir abhinandan Vardhaman and the amraam missiles jamed by advance avionics electronic Warfare suite installed in sukoi 30 mki clearly showing your anti India motives/intents, please let me know how much money do you get paid from Pak agents to post these kind of articles which are divorced of ground reality.
Your TV is not reality 🙂
Author is actually restricted in mentioning full carnage.! Check cia sponsored website that actually proves that it was two migs that got shot down.! And finally govt has accepted that the third was its own helicopter.
Awac is the key to win aerial wars and Pakistan has clear edge here.
PAF learn lesson in year 1999 Kargil war that fighters don’t have beyond visual range capability. As Mig 29 locks F 16 during air cover to attacking Mirage 2000, F 16 disengage and flown back. First they acquire chineese BVR missiles then US Amram 120 D. When this long range missiles where acquired , IAF thin tank underestimated saying such long range missiles not required fo IAF. This was mistake. Second mistake not inducted more small early warning planes like SAAB eye. It was eminent that PAF will attack either night or AWAC change time.
There is a lot, that has changed, if you close your eyes and say it’s night, you are a fool, not the world.
Now let me tell you what has changed,
Pakistan, who used to come out with a nuclear bomb threat everytime, has started to talk of peace.
No terrorist attacks on Any major cities of India.
Pakistan has gone down on the knees for talking to India, same Pakistan, used to say they will not talk untill the Faction of J&K (so called Separatists are also involved.
And most important, Pakistan does not dare to attack India, after revoking article 370. They were the same people who initially spoke that there would be violence and war of Mr Modi did not that.
I don’t blame you, you are a sold Media. Who is always Biased in your views against Indian might.
Jai Hind
“Aap kya chahte hai, India par attack kar doo” PAK PM in Parliament. Nobody said ‘Yes’… Khauf
This e-paper is doing job of his master, Pakistan as paid by them. So there is no question of factual reporting by The print.
Mr Snehesh, are you a spokesperson of the Pakistani Airforce?? Why do you want to belittle your own country’s defence forces by saying that we were “outgunned” ?
Dear Writer, If 4 of our jet forced 25 of enemy’s jet to turn back and we successfully shut 1 of them then in no way we were outgunned by Pakistan. It was pakistan which was outgunned by just 4 jets of india.
Hahahahahah
India being such big country, require to acquire atleast 10 times more in number of sophisticated fighter planes of latest technology. Air Force must be strengthened to depend North,east west borders . Present government must take seriously. We require atleast 50 lacks of force in defence as central government first time taking lot of actions to better our country and some of other countries who donot want this in India to protect their vested interest
Dumb.!!!
10 times more means three times that of US Air Force.!
Northern India needs to calm down and stop using working people money to make some noise. Sick.
If IAF lacks enough armaments and vehicles, whom to beblamed. Even body bags were not available. All the things said and done, shame on you to praise Imran. You can have political difference with Modi and that does not qualify you tobelittle our army andpraise pak army. If pak airforce have F16s, people like you are responsible, you were staunch supporters of then USSR and wants to make all deals with them. Pak took maximum advantage and aligned witht US and aquired all advanved weapons. For you Isreal and US is an anathema that is why India suffered as you said, if true
Now everything coming to mind. When congress government was in power you were sleeping with oil in naval. We understand the print journalists. Idiots
salute ur pride for nation
Stop this hatred against india you bloody pighole communist. If they are so much brave and why they were unable to strike on international borders.insted they together with you traitors cried here and there in un, to china with their begging katora. No body …i repeat no body can stop pakistan to be destroyed. Lets wait and till then enjoy and spread hatre agnst india
From what I have heard from all the air Force personnel, this story is completely opposite. This looks like a lot is made up and not true at all. Rubbish.
This article is backed by US defence industry to show greatness of F16 fighter, whereas the fact is that India’s Mig 21 fighter, which is a Russian junk of 60s, shot down an F16 made in USA which is an embarrassment to US defence establishment. If PAF is more capable than IAF, why they have unable to stop Balakote air attack. Why they lost one F16, while India also lost a MIG21.
yup cuz they want to sell their f21….and irony is that they want to sell it to India
IAF was never outgunned. The print has made a story of its own. Article to misguide the masses. Misinfo.
F16 and mirage were 25 in numbers and there were only 4 planes on India side that too 2 sukois and 2 migw 21 still Pakistani pilots get panicked hahahah..that shows it’s man not machine …which can the result of a war…by the ways urs a biased report….lutyen media
The jihadi protective and prasing media outlets should be banned from this country. You see our biggest weakness is never been pakistan, its always will be snakes like you
Keep barking
Nasty….
Why the hell did IAF go for this fiasco when they were lagging PAF in so many aspects?? Previous IAF chief should have been sacked for bending to political dictates !!!!
You mean to say that Congress had made childish decisions by not purchasing fire power at the right time.
Stupid anti establishment person how much are paid to speak against your forces? Why tf do you forget that if a mug 21 was downed then even a f16 was crashed. So now you believe what pakis say? Stupid.
Speak something good about India at least sometimes.
You are simply doubting the capability of our armed forces and the sacrifices they made.
All you know what happened that night is through Pakistani media possibly.
Get your facts corrected folks…..
Seriously I think it’s the sheer class and skill of our pilots we have been overcome the serious fragile quality of our aircrafts .
We seriously need some good quality and advanced 4 ++ generation and if possible 5th generation fighters .
lol what is sukhoi then?….it is one of the best 4++ aircraft in the world….wtf are you talking about….
Not a word mentioned about abhinandhan vardhaman shotdown F-16.The print is a true anti Indian publication.Good Luck.
Thanks for factual reporting and not hiding under false bravado which we call ‘Nationalism’. The fact that IAF was woefully prepared is amplified by the response as it failed to inflict substantial damage to PAF. For once Pakistan PM Imran Khan was right ‘ PAF acted with restraint’.
factual reporting?…..how come f16 is better than sukhoi?…..have you ever read about their specs….and second you hypocrites always complain when media compares with Pakistan and say that why are we comparing with Pakistan? Pakistan isn’t even comparable with us….and when your favourite channels or reporters do the same and rather say that India was outgunned….which is such a delusional statement….you guys are agreeing and saying it factual reporting….pls just once check the specs of f16 and sukhoi and see the ranges of missiles they can have…..defame the government that’s ok no problem with that but they have crossed their limits….do you know what it means to have outgunned?….are you saying that Pakistan with 1/4 or maybe even less millitary budget has better planes and better defence systems?…..lmao I can’t laugh more…..how come a country with far lesser defence budget have better equipments?
We gave a bloody nose to Pakistan and their F16. Till date you are not even acknowledging that your best pilot and the best bird was shot down by our brave wing commander abhinandan on his mig21
An eye opener for every Indian. Also a classic example of lethargy by previous congress government leading to such a helpless situation for Indian Airforce.
Must say bad planning/ failure to anticipate the Pakistan response.
eye opening?….lmao they are literally supporting Pakistan with false facts….well we can’t call these facts at all….do they even know about sukhoi?….sukhoi is far better compared to f 16….go and read about their capabilities….This report is literally defaming and insulting India…..they said sukhoi stood no chance against f16….lol what type of statement is this?….very funny
Hahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahaha
Chor jab chori karta ha tu kya manta ha. Indian so called humans wese tu insaaniyat tum logon ki Mar gai ha Pakistan zindabaad jab tum logon ka hi banda Pakistan ko itna support Kar Raha ha tu fault tum logo mn ha ham mn nahi. And Han Pakistan great nation ha yeh tu tum logon ko Trump ne hi bta diya tha aur yeh news tum Indian k channel se suni ha mene.
lol I have listened far more from Pakistani news channels….This guy is just a delusional….compare the defence budget my brother…..also do you know why those f16 are given to you?….
also why India is considered the 4th most powerful country in the world?….why Indian budget is far more compare to Pakistani budget….talk about facts….
Outdated equipment, aircraft derided as flying coffins, a navy with meagre submarine strength, a rising pension budget, a man power intensive army, no operational synergy, a complete lack of a rational procurement policy with a puny defence manufacturing base and a complete lack of strategic culture cannot be made up for by bravado and thrash talk. In such a scenario, it is wise to keep your mouth shut and pray for a miracle.
lol that’s why Indian airforce comes in top 6 of the world as said by a Israeli air force official…..and that’s why India had 4th most powerful millitary in the world….
This PAF of outmaneuvering of IAF on Feb 27th is purely bad planning at air headquarters . This retaliation was not unexpected. PAF was bound to retaliate. Even a layman would expect that. How the IAF top brass did not expect that and worst of all did not prepare for that cannot be explained? The air Headquarter has been busy trying to explain the bravery of one pilot in an old MIG -21 shooting down a F-16, and get laurels for that. That is beside the point, – not anticipating a retaliatory attack and not preparing for that is the biggest error the IAF made. Now the history books will record PAF’s retaliatory attack as a victory for them.
In India, most of the PMs, except Indira Gandhi and Modi did not have head for security and defence matters. Generally, these were left to God Almighty to take care of. A reading about 1965 war shows that only the grit and determination of army stopped Pakistan at Kashmir and entered in to West Punjab instead of letting Pakistanis entering India. IAF played a miserable and worthless role in the beginnings of 1965 war. Anyway, man behind the weapon matters more than weapons themselves. Inspite of having Beyond visual range missiles, PAF could not inflict any damage in India.
In 1965, the Pak tanks were close to capturing our only access to Jammu , in the Chhamb sector. IN an emergency meeting, the defence minister Chavan, gave the go ahead for IAF to attack the tanks with Mystere and HUnter fighters. It was the IAF that saved the day and broke up the Pak armoured attack in Chhamb. PLease read reliable books on the subject .In fact give credit to Shastri and Chavan who took bold decisions in 1965. They stand as tall as Indira gandhi in their own way.
Indira Gandhi yes, but not Modi who is not even equal to the little toe of Lal Bahadur Shastri, who didn’t back down against Pakistan. Modi has no clue about defence, security or armed forces.