IAF to showcase Mirage capabilities to PM in Gwalior

The IAF has dismissed it as speculation, but PM Manmohan Singh’s scheduled visit to the elite fighter base in Gwalior tomorrow, his first to an operational air combat station after he took office last year, is to witness a 40-minute display of what is by and large the IAF’s aircraft of preference for an upcoming contract worth over $5 billion—the Mirage-2000.

In Gwalior tomorrow to attend a cultural awards event organised by the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Memorial Trust, the PM has been invited by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi to watch the two elite 1 and 7 Squadrons showcase the force’s mascot fighters in a flypast and static display. Manmohan will also witness a demonstration by the Air Warriors Drill Team and a combat para-drop display by a team from Agra. Though not part of the Vijay Diwas celebrations around the country, the IAF has acknowledged that its Mirages played a defining role in the Kargil war when they were forward deployed from Gwalior for pin-point bombing missions of enemy positions at high altitudes.

The IAF suffered something of a setback recently when talks to procure 10 second-hand Mirage-2000-5 fighters from Qatar fell through after Doha demanded too high a price. If they had been purchased, the 10 fighters would have replaced Mirages lost in crashes so far.