Air Force Releases Promotional Video Of Balakot Airstrike Featuring Fighter Jets, Missiles, Radars

The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday released a promotional video showcasing the story of Balakot airstrike that targetted several terror camps in Pakistan which took place earlier this year.

Air Chief Marshal Bhaduria said that the footage in the promotional video was not actually from Mirage fighter jets. (Image: IAF/ Twitter)

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday released a promotional video showcasing the story of Balakot airstrike that targetted several terror camps in Pakistan which took place earlier this year. The video was released by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria days ahead of the Indian Air Force Day, which is celebrated on October 8 every year. The video showed the story of airstrike which IAF carried out on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in Balakot region in Pakistan on February 26. This promotional video features shots of fighter jets taking off, dropping missiles and radars zooming in to targets. While releasing the video, Air Chief Marshal Bhaduria said that the footage in the promotional video was not actually from Mirage fighter jets that launched an airstrike on the terror launch pad in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The video features a voice-over that talks about how the Indian Air Force avenged the Pulwama terror attack of February 14 in which 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred. The video also explains about the foiling attempt by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to carry out an attack on Indian military installations the next day. The video has visuals of IAF pilots running out to their fighter jets and taking off and zoom in of potential targets. The IAF chief said in his opening remarks that IAF successfully struck terrorist camps located at Balakot on February 26 this year. "The next day IAF successfully thwarted Pakistan Air Force'sattempts to attack our military establishments. In the aerial engagement that followed we shot down a PAF F-16 fighter aircraft and lost a MiG-21," Bhadauria said. Bhadauria also  admitted that IAF shooting down its helicopter in Kashmir on February 27 was a "big mistake" and that punitive action is being taken against the guilty. Speaking on Mi-17 chopper crash in Srinagar, Bhadauria said, "On 27th February in the aerial battle after attack by Pakistan, Indian Air Force lost one MiG-21 and Pakistan lost one F-16." "Court of Inquiry completed and it was our mistake as our missile had hit our own chopper. We will take action against two officers. We accept this was our big mistake and we will ensure such mistakes are not repeated in future," he added. A surface-to-air missile of the Indian Air Force brought down the Mi-17 aircraft in Kashmir's Budgam on the morning of February 27 when the Indian and Pakistani air forces were engaged in a fierce dogfight, a high-level probe had concluded in August. Clarification: ABP News ran the promotional video of Balakot airstrike, released by Indian Air Force, in its bulletin. A correction has been made in this regard after the Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria issued a clarification.