In the early hours of June 13, 1999, at the height of the Kargil War, Indian Air Force fighter pilots were minutes away from launching a full-fledged air attack deep inside Pakistan. Targets had been assigned, route maps finalised; personal revolvers to be carried by pilots had been loaded with ammunition and Pakistani currency collected, for use if pilots had to eject on the other side of the Line of Control and orchestrate an escape.
These plans, laid out in documents of the Indian Air Force accessed exclusively by NDTV, show that fighter pilots were minutes away from crossing the Line of Control or de facto border in Kashmir on bombing missions, a move which would have likely escalated the controlled Kargil conflict into a full-fledged war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
In the end, the talks were deadlocked. New Delhi had had enough.
In all, 16 fighter jets were to be deployed across enemy lines in this massive attack
What was about to follow is laid out in an official record of the plans of the Air Force, accessed exclusively by NDTV. "On the 12th [of June], Sartaj Aziz went back after a failed visit to India. All pilots were called back at 1600 by Gupta, who had news for us. CATOs [Command Air Tasking Orders] had come for a pre-emptive strike at dawn on 13 Jun," reads the Squadron Diary of the Air Force's 17 Squadron, the "Golden Arrows", a formation that flew MiG 21s from the Srinagar Air Force base.
Assigned their targets, the pilots then went about the business of preparing for their mission: "We all returned at night after making Wiznavs [software used to calculate routes], golas [loading bullets into personal revolvers], maps and collecting Pak currency."
The Air Force's plans for the attack were the result of collapsed talks with Pakistan in Delhi.
The clock was ticking. Within hours, the Indian Air Force would launch its first attacks in Pakistan since the 1971 war, aerial attacks against a country that may have had nuclear weapons in its inventory.
"At 0430 on 13th [June] morning, we reported to the sqn [squadron], ready for war. But it was NO GO - EXORs (Execution Orders) had not been received. We stood on standby till morning, then finally stood down at 1230."
2 MiG 21s were assigned as "tied escorts" to four MiG-27s from another unit who were ordered to target the runway at the Chaklala airbase using runway denial bombs (bombs that create large craters in runways, preventing their use). As "tied escorts," the pair of MiG-21s would provide cover to the MiG-27 ground attack fighters in case they were intercepted by Pakistani fighter jets.
In all, 16 fighter jets were to be deployed across enemy lines in this massive attack, the first in a wave of missions. Several other squadrons were assigned separate targets.
The mission itself came with extraordinary risks; the possibility that a few jets would be shot down was very likely. Pakistan's premier fighters, the F-16s, were waiting on the other side, flying patrols between Pindi and Kahuta to detect and intercept any Indian strike mission.
However, at the time of the Kargil war, the Indian Air Force had a distinct advantage. Not only did India have more fighter jets than Pakistan, but they were also armed with better weapons to intercept the enemy. Unlike India's MiG-29s and Mirage 2000s, Pakistani fighters did not have any long-range air-to-air missiles and would only have been able to engage IAF fighters in a dogfight within the range of their short-range US-supplied Sidewinder missiles. It was perhaps this key advantage that made the government almost decide on going ahead with strikes in Pakistan, though the reasons for India's eventual decision to not escalate the Kargil situation remain a closely guarded secret.
By July 1999, the Indian Army was able to regain territory held by Pakistani forces who were forced to retreat.
Video: F-16 Fighter Jets Arrive In Ukraine, Zelensky Says "We Did It" S-400 Air Defence System Shoots Down Almost Entire 'Enemy' Package In Test FICCI Women's Tribute To Air Force Personnel To Mark 25 Years Of Kargil War Vandalism At Kolkata Hospital Where Doctor Was Raped, Tear Gas Fired 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Professor 'Digitally Arrested' For 12 Days By Scammers, Loses Rs 12 Lakh Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: PM Modi To Address Nation From Red Fort PM Modi To Address Nation From Red Fort On 78th Independence Day Today Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.