Operation Bandar
बंदरMonkey — a deliberately unrevealing codename
The first Indian airstrike beyond Kashmir into Pakistan proper since 1971.
- Dates
- 26 February 2019
- Theatre
- Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Services
- IAF
Summary
The 2019 Balakot airstrike was a bombing raid conducted by Indian warplanes on 26 February 2019 in Balakot, Pakistan, against an alleged training camp of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Open source satellite imagery revealed that no targets of consequence were hit. The following day, Pakistan shot down an Indian warplane and took its pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, prisoner.
Objective
Strike a Jaish-e-Mohammed facility near Balakot in response to the Pulwama bombing of 14 February 2019.
Outcome
Twelve Mirage 2000s crossed and released stand-off munitions. Pakistan responded the next morning; in the air combat that followed a MiG-21 was lost and its pilot captured, returning on 1 March. Damage at the target site is disputed to this day.
Why it mattered
Balakot is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, not in Kashmir. Striking there moved the line India had held since 1971 — that retaliation stops at the disputed territory — and it did so with the stated position that the target was a terrorist facility rather than a military one, which is the argument that kept the exchange from widening.
Losses — contested
India lost a MiG-21 Bison the following day and its pilot was captured and returned. Claims about a Pakistani F-16 loss, and about casualties at Balakot, have never been independently settled.
Equipment
What it was conducted with
6 catalogued platforms recorded as taking part. Not exhaustive — it lists what this catalogue holds, not everything that was fielded.
Indian Air Force
Dassault Mirage 2000
Vajra
The precision striker that hit Balakot.
- Role
- Multirole fighter aircraft
- In service
- 1985 — present
Indian Air Force
Sukhoi Su-30 MKI
Flanker-H
The heavyweight workhorse of the IAF fleet.
- Role
- Multirole fighter, air superiority fighter
- In service
- 2002 — present
Indian Air Force
MiG-21 Bison
Supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft.
- Role
- Fighter and interceptor aircraft
- In service
- 1963 — retired
Indian Air Force
DRDO Netra
India's own airborne early warning platform.
- Role
- Airborne early warning and control
- In service
- 2017 — present
Indian Air Force
Ilyushin Il-78MKI
Soviet/Russian four-engined aerial refueling tanker based on the Il-76 strategic airlifter.
- Role
- Aerial refueling tanker
- In service
- 2003 — present
Indian Air Force
A-50EI Phalcon
Soviet-origin airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft that is based on the Ilyushin.
- Role
- Airborne early warning and control
- In service
- 2009 — present