Amidst a raging controversy over the damage inflicted on JeMcamp in Balakot, IAF chief B S Dhanoa on Monday said his force does not counthuman casualties but the airstrike had hit the “target”.
“The Indian Air Force is not in a position to clarifythe number of casualties. The government will clarify that. We don’t counthuman casualties. We do not count how many people were dead. We count whattargets we have hit or not. We hit our target. The air force doesn’t calculatecasualty numbers. The government does that,” he told reporters here.
“The target has been clearly amplified by the ForeignSecretary in a statement. If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target.Otherwise why would he (Pakistan Prime Minister) have responded. If we droppedbombs in the jungles why would he respond,” Dhanoa said in his firstpublic remarks on the February 26 air force operation as a consequence of theFebruary 14 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
There has been a controversy over the number of peoplekilled in the attack on the JeM camp in Balakot. While officially no figureshave been given, BJP President Amit Shah claimed in Ahmedabad on Sunday thatmore than 250 terrorists were killed in that airstrike.
Union Minister S S Ahluwalia had said that the Balakotstrike was to convey a message that India has the capacity to strike deep insideenemy lines and was not intended to inflict any human casualties.
Dhanoa said the bomb damage assessment was a differentaspect and it was difficult for the IAF to confirm casualties. How many peoplewere inside the targets cannot be said.
He also defended the use of the vintage MiG-21 Bison in theaerial engagement with a large package of intruding Pakistan Air Force (PAF)fighters on the Line of Control (LoC).
“One is a planned operation in which you plan and carryout. But when an adversary does a strike on you, every available aircraft goesin, irrespective of which aircraft it is. All aircraft are capable of fightingthe enemy.
“The Mig-21 Bison is a capable aircraft, it has beenupgraded, it has better radar, air-to air missiles and better weaponssystem,” he said.
Refusing to get drawn into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’scomment that the outcome would have been different had Rafale jets joined theservice, Dhanoa said that after the upgradation, the Bison is 3.5 generationwith a range of missiles and avionics.
He said it has all the systems like chaffs, flares and otherfeatures. The IAF chief also said thatthe first Rafale should come to India by September.
Amidst various reports in the international mediaquestioning the veracity of the Indian claim of shooting down a PAF F-16,Dhanoa said it is confirmed that the American jets were used.
On the question of the US objecting to Pakistan using F-16sin a combat role against India, the IAF chief said he was not aware what is theend-user agreement between Washington and Islamabad over F-16s.
“I don’t know about the end-user agreement betweenPakistan and the US.”
He said India has got the evidence of F-16 fighter planesbeing used by Pakistan in its attack on India as a part of the AMRAAM missilewas recovered from the Indian soil.
Talking about Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman gettingback into his squadron, Dhanoa said it will depend on his medical condition andhow fast he recovers to get back into a fighter cockpit.
“Abhinandan flying again depends on his medicalfitness. If he is fit to fly a fighter plane then he will go back to the sameunit.”
Elaborating on the IAF’s future inductions, he said final pricenegotiations for 83 LCAs will be finalised soon. The IAF is awaiting LCA mk 1aand LCA mk 2, still on the drawing board, to replace Jaguars, Mig-29s, andMirages leading to the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).