On Saturday, two fighter planes from the Indian Air Force (IAF)—a Sukhoi-30 and a Mirage-2000—went down in the Pahadgarh area of Morena in the state of Madhya Pradesh. During a normal training mission, the two fighter jets got into an accident. A look into what happened has been asked for.
Ashutosh Bagri, the superintendent of police in Morena, confirmed the crash and said that two jets left Gwalior early on Saturday morning. One had two pilots on board, while the other only had one. Two pilots were saved, but the third one was killed by his injuries. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari also told Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about what happened.
Here are 5 things to know about Mirage 2000.
1.) India’s first-line fighter was the Mirage 2000 until the central government decided to buy Rafale fighters from Dassault, which are from the 4.5th generation.
2.) Dassault Aviation in France makes the Mirage 2000, which is one of the most versatile fighter jets in the Indian Air Force (IAF). It can drop a wide range of bombs and missiles.
3.) The Mirage 2000 has a single, light, and simple engine called SNECMA M53. It can go as fast as Mach 2.2. (2,336 kmph). You can fly them up to a height of 59000 ft. The Thales RDY 2 radar on these jets lets them hit their targets with 100% accuracy.
4.) Mirage 2000 planes were used in the Kargil war in 1999 and the Balakot airstrike against the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan in February 2019 because they could hit their targets with “pinpoint” accuracy.
5.) Twelve fully armed Mirage 2000 planes flew into Pakistani airspace and dropped laser-guided bombs on terror camps on the other side of the Line of Control (LOC).
