New Delhi: The Air Force today scrambled 2 Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets after the Army detected a Pakistani drone flying close to the border in Punjab’s Khemkaran sector some hours before dawn on Monday, sources said. The neighbouring country responded by sending two of its American-made F-16 jets. The Pakistani jets soon turned back, sources said.
Several Pakistan drones have been shot down by the Air Force in the last two months along the border in Rajasthan and Gujarat, after tensions rose following a precision air strike on a camp of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26.
Drones are commonly used at border areas by the armed forces of both India and Pakistan to spy on each other as they are lightweight, easy to operate and relatively inexpensive.
Pakistan had also used the F-16s it got from the US in a skirmish with Indian fighter jets. A MiG-21 Bison of the IAF piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman downed the much advanced F-16 fighter jet before his MiG-21 also fell to enemy fire. He was captured by Pakistani forces and released later.
