In Air Force circles, its been referred to as the ultimate ‘jugaad’ or innovative fix – mating a Russian air-to-air missile to an Israeli helmet mounted display to be worn by an Indian pilot flying a French-built Mirage 2000 fighter.
And yet, this is exactly how the Indian Air Force or IAF has been operating the bulk of its Mirage 2000 fleet for close to a decade.
By 2008, the French-built R-530D and Magic II, the primary air-to-air missiles which equipped the Mirages which entered IAF service in 1985, had become obsolete. Without these, the IAF’s Mirages would have no missiles to engage enemy aircraft in the skies. Read More…
