How India Hacked a French Fighter Jet in 12 Days

Summary

The video recounts how the Indian Air Force adapted Mirage 2000 fighters to use Israeli targeting pods and American guidance kits during the 1999 Kargil War. The systems were not designed to work together, and the integration effort was completed in just 12 days.

The need for precision bombing followed heavy losses during low-altitude operations: two aircraft and a helicopter were lost, and several aircrew were killed or captured. Indian aircraft therefore had to operate high above the mountain peaks, where unguided bombs were unlikely to hit small targets. A laser-guided bomb could strike accurately, but only if a targeting pod kept a laser on the target.

The project had been underway since 1996 but remained incomplete after sanctions were imposed following India’s 1998 nuclear tests. A March 1999 test had also revealed a faulty fuse. As the aircraft were sent to war, engineers brought five test-version pods to Gwalior, where engineers from the Israeli company joined the effort. The team found an old detonator, fitted it to the new kits, modified the aircraft mounts, and successfully tested the bombs.

An initial attempt against Tiger Hill was aborted when clouds obscured the target. On a later mission, Wing Commander Raghunath Nambiar approached the peak in severe crosswinds and released a bomb while his partner aircraft maintained the laser designation. The bomb struck its target, marking the Indian Air Force’s first wartime use of a laser-guided bomb. Nambiar flew five of the eight laser-bomb missions conducted by Mirages in Kargil.

The video stresses that airstrikes did not capture Tiger Hill on their own. Mirage attacks and artillery helped prepare the way for the ground assault. Indian troops began climbing on July 3; the peak was secured by the following morning, and the entire hill was liberated by July 8. The account presents the hurried integration as an improvised but effective wartime solution, while emphasizing that ground forces ultimately took the objective.

Presenters and Contributors

• Presenter/narrator: Not identified by name; the video is from The Terminal Intelligence Bureau.
• Featured contributors quoted or cited: Wing Commander Raghunath Nambiar and former Air Force chief B. S. Dhanoa.