Operation Balakot: News & Discussion

[Aditya_V]

So they do not expect any of their bases to survive .. motorway landing is all good in theory but where do you refuel and where are spares etc stored. Besides the motorway do they have emergency spares storage depots masquerading as petrol bunks.

And you can Bombs, ordinance Missiles, spares, Fuel , place for Pilots and Maintence crew to stay etc anywhere ont he Highway? Its just a gimmick.

[ks_sachin]

So they do not expect any of their bases to survive .. motorway landing is all good in theory but where do you refuel and where are spares etc stored. Besides the motorway do they have emergency spares storage depots masquerading as petrol bunks.

Did we not practice the same? Do these questions also apply to us?
Was our Mirage landing on highway also a gimmick?

[Singha]

i guess they are for recovery of returning a/c should the base be damaged. they will hide for few hours and return to bases once repaired (which with quick setting special concrete mix kept in slurry form is only few hours allegedly)

its very difficult to permanently close a runway unless you keep smashing it every 6 hours or go all in and unleash a MOP on top of it

the blast pens and HAS are also organized such that very accurate hits and individual hits are needed to decomission.

none but khan when pushed has that many TLAMs and JASSMs.

on trick that people use is durandal type rocket assisted retarded munitions that dive vertically to do some deep concrete damage.
the JP233 if you see videos unleashes a barrage of anti runway mines but needs the delivery platform to fly low and straight over the runway like a sitting duck.
some munitions disperse delayed action mines into the blasted up soil to hamper the repair efforts.

all in all, unless you can have complete air superiority, closing down major bases is nearly impossible. its better to try and kill a/c on the ground with SAAW or Spice type weapons, brahmos for the larger underground pens...... hit the POL and munitions depots ..... but caches will be kept dispersed in hidden places nearby including civilian towns and brought in JIT for use.

against an adversary even 50% of your talents, the counterair effort is a hard fight.

[nam]

Feel Pak might do a terror attack during the election phase, to put pressure on GoI to react in hurry and sow doubts in the minds of the people who are about to vote. IMF money also come by that time..

Expectation would be to force GoI in to a response trap.

[nam]

The easiest option to keep digging up airbase runway is a 2 tonne warhead BM with 200 kg sensor fused cluster wrhd. Fire off couple of them every 10 hrs.

Our Prithvi seem to have such a warhead.

[Aditya_V]

Not so simple, the Paki Main bases have 2 run ways and run ways can be repaired, while the Prithvi/Brahmos/ Nirbhay can disable the runaway and hit the ORP aircraft, it needs to be followed up taking out the stores, POL storage/Bowshers, Indian GPS guided bombs at the various disbursed shelters, SAAWS taking out multiple sections of runaways, hit the Pilot Bomb Shelters/ Aircrews and ground crew Barracks etc, we must prepare 10 years to fight a no contest war where the PAF, key PN assets and PAki BM launchers are put of action and then go for the real battle, with PA OIL/GAS/Electricity /Food storage decommissed , and then attack the PA on mass with IA/ IAF attacks that a lightly armed Pathan army can start raiding Pakjabis.

I think in 1971 war IAF did good counter air operations with Mig 21's putting Dhaka AFB out of service and took a hige tool on Murid and Shorkot Road which was restricted to 2-3 strikes since there were not enough drop tanks for Su 7 fleet which needed those drop tanks due to their short range.

[Shivaji]

Two Paki BOPs destroyed by us in Goi sector:

https://twitter.com/bababanaras/status/ ... 7113877504

Corroborated by one Paki account here:

https://twitter.com/MughalAmiruddin/sta ... 6475146240

[Lalmohan]

the other country to actively use motorways as standby runways is Singapore - for obvious reasons

[Singha]

singapore has just 2 military airports and a tremendous number of a/c and helis for a city state the size of blr.

[abhijitm]

he looks to be focussed and clean text feed. does not entertain SM fights with anyone, just posts and goes away. only posts 1-2 times a day. so far on the dot.

definitely a man of mystery...a dark knight.

it looks like he is following quite a few defense and j&k based journalists, and possibly with slight hint of something he could be extrapolating.

[ArjunPandit]

Did we notice the Doval's mention of Pulwama? "India hasn't forgotten and India will not ever forget Pulwama". I am left wondering if Balakote was avenging pulwama or a pre-emptive strike. I hope the latter, but trust the govt and leave it to them to disclose at the right time and in right detail.

[Chinmayanand]

@bababanaras seems to be a non-state military intelligence guy keeping the jingos warm & informed during this undeclared war being fought in media blackout .

[Lalmohan]

which is fine as long as he is not eating banarasi paan

[UlanBatori]

Did we notice the Doval's mention of Pulwama? "India hasn't forgotten and India will not ever forget Pulwama". I am left wondering if Balakote was avenging pulwama or a pre-emptive strike. I hope the latter, but trust the govt and leave it to them to disclose at the right time and in right detail.

India specifically declared that Balakote was a pre-emptive attack based on specific info about attack planning.. UBCN (UB CONFIRMED news). Seriously. Lost somewhere in the 72000 posts here. I think the declaration came maybe 2 days after the attack.
So no, Pulwama attack has not had "revenge". Nor Mumbai 2008. Nor earlier or later attacks. India does not "forget" (except the 99.999% of the population who give the other 0.001% a bad name for forgetfulness/ignorance) but India doesn't do "revenge". Only "solution".
Solution of Pakistan problem is underway.

BTW, TOTALLY unrelated and OT here, deepest apologies but I am so forgetful.... anyone counted the toll in a certain Paki province in recent years?

[Ashokk]

Two Paki BOPs destroyed by us in Goi sector:
Corroborated by one Paki account here:

https://twitter.com/MughalAmiruddin/sta ... 6475146240

400% better english on full display in the above tweet

A #school buldeng and two residential houses damaged duo to #IndianArmy shelling in goi sector Kotli #Pakistan administered Azad #Jammu #Kashmir, Cross #LOC Shelling cuntinew different areas of kotly #AJK

[habal]

it looks like he is following quite a few defense and j&k based journalists, and possibly with slight hint of something he could be extrapolating.

a lot of people may be in the know, it is easy in India. But to post the same on twitter from a particular handle will attract attention of various alphabet groups with a threat perception, now whoever this person is has no issues with that. So not a small fry.

[Shivaji]

Look at two tweets from 14th March:
1. A very important decision will be taken today. Sir is meeting with all stock holders today late evening.
2. Sir you are real Rambo. Will continue ops...

And another one the next day:
There is 99.99% chances that Pakistani will do misadventure after #5_6March incident and 100℅ chances that our armed forces will ruin them. One of top IAF official told me.

Whoever it belongs to, has given jingoes on Twitter with great ammo....

[shravan]

was going through baba banaras TL....
https://twitter.com/bababanaras/status/ ... 0359829506

Siyalkot ke siyar...Ur coward army will never tell u the truth... Surgical strike 2 by indian army on 25-26th september 2018 at Line of control

It has a video inside. Genuine?

A few months back Rajnath Singh, at an event made a cryptic statement referring to LoC "kuch hua hai kuch baDa hua hai theek hua hai" or something to that effect. That's the 2nd surgical strike I think.

Edit: found it. From Sept 2018

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 999832.cms

Action against Pakistan? ‘Something big has happened’, says Rajnath Singh

on the International Border in Samba district, the minister said, “Kuchh hua hai, main bataunga nahin. Theek thaak hua hai. Vishwas rakhna theek thaak hua hai do teen din pehle. Aur aage bhi dekhiyega kya hoga. (Something has happened. I won’t reveal it now. Something big has happened. Trust me, something really big has happened two-three days ago. And you will also see what happens in future).”

[Singha]

could perhaps not be one person, but a "collective" tasked to say things that GOI does not want to put press releases on.

[sudhan]

This handle made a lot of cryptic references to Israeli maal.. this was much before 26th Feb.

[manjgu]

if u watch the vid carefully ..at 1.45 approx..u see something slithering on the road... away from the fire and then it is still. someone needs to geo locate this ...

[khan]

could perhaps not be one person, but a "collective" tasked to say things that GOI does not want to put press releases on.

GOI, had better ways to do this. They can leak information to some friendly reporter and they will report that “sources said...”.

If you go back in time, sometimes bababenaras is correct with vague predictions or some rumors he might have picked up on Twitter might turn out to be true, but I don’t think he knows anything & even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

I know he makes Jingos feel good, but good Jingos need to develop better sources and methods than some rando on Twitter mouthing strange conspiracy theories. Jingos are better than this - Jingo don’t need to believe in half baked Conspiracy Theories - let us leave Consiparacy theories to the Bakis and their Djin mathematics.

[VikasM]

Not saying debunked but.. Watch this.

https://youtu.be/r53xhGoCBmE


Used C4i keyword from cam to google

[chetak]

Not saying debunked but.. Watch this.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/r53xhGoCBmE[/youtube]

VikasM ji,

Don't mind, I corrected the links.


https://youtu.be/r53xhGoCBmE

[Rishi]

could perhaps not be one person, but a "collective" tasked to say things that GOI does not want to put press releases on.

GOI, had better ways to do this. They can leak information to some friendly reporter and they will report that “sources said...”.

If you go back in time, sometimes bababenaras is correct with vague predictions or some rumors he might have picked up on Twitter might turn out to be true, but I don’t think he knows anything & even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

I know he makes Jingos feel good, but good Jingos need to develop better sources and methods than some rando on Twitter mouthing strange conspiracy theories. Jingos are better than this - Jingo don’t need to believe in half baked Conspiracy Theories - let us leave Consiparacy theories to the Bakis and their Djin mathematics.

Hear hear. This account does not have credibility. Nag atgm attack on the LoC... From what launcher? Pinaka strikes etc. Please enjoy with popcorn only

[Shivaji]

Deleted

[Singha]

arent we all going into raja harischandra circular loop mode here?
why should GOI give to any one journalist? all are in some outlet or other...and all will claim a "exclusive" which will make others unhappy.

far better to run their own shadow quad show.

[khan]

why should GOI give to any one journalist? all are in some outlet or other...and all will claim a "exclusive" which will make others unhappy.

They do that all the time.

Examples would be when they showed the Balakot pictures to NDTV only. In all the F-16 van Mig-21 articles (including Shiv Aroor & Vishnu Som’s), you will see reference to “sources” with new tit-bits of information. These “sources” have relationships with various journalists, it is a common practice.

If someone in GOI wanted to get information out about something with no attribution, it could be done much more effectively and reach many ore eyeballs than some random Twitter account.

[JE Menon]

>>I am left wondering if Balakote was avenging pulwama or a pre-emptive strike.

It was a "non-military pre-emptive strike". It was not retaliation for Pulwama. AFAIK, this is the official position.

One minister has actually stated this during an interview, but in passing. Can't remember who/where.

[yensoy]

It cannot be a "retaliation" for anything because that will bring into question issues like who decides what is a fair & equitable retribution. Also, if we are retaliating for Pulwama does it mean we have forgotten or forgiven all the incidents past? If this is a retribution, it ties our hands and doesn't let us continue operations if deemed necessary.

To avoid those kinds of theoretical pitfalls, it's best to treat these ops as a pre-emptive/proactive strike on clear and present threats.

Officially it was pre-emptive. Politically, it depends on who is speaking on the dais, they can call it what they want and should call it badla when addressing the heartland where the Pulwama jawans came from.

[yensoy]

The smoking gun today is the fact that (i) Paki airspace still mostly closed in the eastern half of the country and (ii) internet blackout around the LoC. We can't explain either, but evidently the twitter guys have stories.

[sudhan]

Another info release to a known NaMo hating website

Five IAF Spice 2000 bombs hit JeM camps in Balakot, govt satellite images show

And two of the three intended targets, including the main training centre of the JeM, were conclusively hit, high-resolution images procured by India from its own satellites as well as those of friendly nations show.

Contrary to reports that bad weather conditions on the day of the strike prevented clear pictures, top defence sources said that India has managed to get multiple high-resolution pictures of the structures, including those of repairs being carried out on the roof of one after the attack.

Satellite images in possession of the government, and seen by ThePrint, clearly show that the Israeli Spice 2000 bombs, each of them weighing 900 kg with 95 kg of explosives, did drop on at least two targets.

The images show small black holes in the roof of two of the targeted buildings that appear to be the entry points of the bombs, which are meant to take out heavily-fortified and underground command and control centres.

The IAF went in for the Spice 2000 missiles with the intent of causing maximum damage to residents of the three structures. Six bombs were meant to be fired from the Mirage 2000 fighters, but because of a technical issue, only five could be.

According to the source, questions about the damage inflicted by the bombs betrayed a lack of understanding about their functioning.

“Everybody is looking at the commercially-available satellite images and arguing that the structures are standing, without understanding how these precision bombs actually work,” the source added.

[Chinmayanand]

Baba uvacha again . 50 pakistani troopers halaq including 3 senior officers in Indian firing.

[DrRatnadip]

If GOI has images of strike and they are willing to share it privately with media houses then why not show them publicly??
Is it possible that Whichever "friendly " country has shared sat images with has stopped us from doing so??

[DrRatnadip]

Baba uvacha again . 50 pakistani troopers halaq including 3 senior officers in Indian firing.

I pray whatever He says is true.. It makes my day

[khan]

If GOI has images of strike and they are willing to share it privately with media houses then why not show them publicly??
Is it possible that Whichever "friendly " country has shared sat images with has stopped us from doing so??

Please think about the difference between someone writing about the pictures and publishing the actual pictures for the world to see and do a technical analysis on.

[partha]

Baba uvacha again . 50 pakistani troopers halaq including 3 senior officers in Indian firing.

isn't 50 a huge number? We are not talking plain clothes jihadis but uniformed ones. How is it possible for PA to completely hide this from public? PA can cut access to internet near border areas but they can't do it in 50 different villages/towns. Even if PA doesn't hand over bodies to families but just informs 50 families that their son attained jannat fighting Hindu kufrs, neighbors would come to know about it then the entire village and then it spreads and gets leaked on the internet or RAA agents can get hold of such info.

[UlanBatori]

I wonder about the statement on Teetar: "Both sides are trying to capture territory across LOC".

Apparently it is a case of "All Quiet On The Western Front". Pretty savage fighting, bombardments, cross-border strikes with attack helicopters..
Isn't this what was happening in Rann of Kutch in summer of 1965? Followed by massive influx of terrorists across the LOC. Rann of Kutch ended very badly for Indian troops, facing Patton tanks (IIRC, from what my Dad used to say). Then came Sep. 1965 and all-out war, which turned at Khemkaran. Until then it was really India on backfoot, long lists of casualties filling entire pages of newspapers, headlined Roll of Honour. Then came the news of Haji Pir Pass, and Sialkot, and LaHore. And Ceasefire.

Looks like very tough times, while we sit around yadayada about things that happened long ago, like March 6. Need more current CTs, ppl.

[UlanBatori]

OTOH, unlike the defensive situation of 1965, I HOPE this time there is determination to "rationalize" the Yellow Sea, with IA basically hammering the pakistan out of the PA until they let go of a wide swath of territory and back off, and quit trying to come back. The 30km buffer that we have been arguing for. Trouble is, 30km from the border into any country, one is essentially into unprotected territory. No trenches, no minefields, no bunkers or pillboxes. Would have to keep moving until the next natural barrier.

[UlanBatori]

IOW, time for a new thread? "New LOC"? But I am just not sure what is happening.

The report about Combat Helicopters being used by PA did not make any sense. Did they actually bring Apaches into Indian territory? What were the air defenses doing, on the way in and out? Which suggests that the action took place ENTIRELY WEST OF THE FORMER LOC. Pakis were trying to recapture. Sooner or later, if unsuccessful, they will go into soosai mode on that under pressure from Pindi, and then:

Ahr soldiers went to war
Ahr soldiers fought well..
Ahr soldiers shoved their bayonets
Up the Major's Ahssole

But it is not likely to be easy or without cost...