A fleet of Mirage jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck Jaish-e-Mohammad’s terrorist camps in Pakistan today (26 February) in a cross-LoC (Line of Control) air strike.

The Indian retaliation comes 12 days after the Pulwama terror strike in Kashmir killed 42 CRPF personnel. Here is the list of equipment used by the Indian side to successfully conduct the strike, as tweeted by journalist Shiv Aroor.

1. Mirage 2000 Fighter Jet: It is French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. Its successor is the new Rafale Jet.

2. GBU-12 Paveway Laser Guided Bomb: These are American aerial bombs developed by US defence contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. They are currently in use by armed forces of countries like the US, Saudi Arabia, Australia and various NATO airforces.

3. Matra Magic Close Combat Missile: It is a short-range air-to-air missile designed by French company Matra. Apart from India, Pakistan, France and Egypt also use this missile.

4. Litening Pod: This is an Isreali advanced precision targeting pod system that significantly increases the combat effectiveness of the aircraft during day, night and under-the-weather conditions in the attack of ground and air targets with a variety of standoff weapons.

5. Netra Airborne Early Warning Jet (From Bhatinda): Developed by the state-run Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), it was instrumental in guiding the jets towards the targets.

6. Ilyushin-78M (From Agra): This is a Soviet four-engined aerial refuelling tanker based on the Il-76 strategic airlifter. It is also used by China, Pakistan. The Il-78 has a total transferable fuel load of 85,720 kg, which includes 28,000 kilograms from a pair of 18,230-litre tanks in the freight hold.

7. Heron Drone: A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Malat (UAV) division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is capable of Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) operations of up to 52 hours' duration at up to 10.5 km (35,000 ft).

Indian Air Force Response

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