New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman achieved the unthinkable by bringing down a high-tech F-16 in a dogfight while flying his vintage MiG-21, said top defence sources on Thursday.
“The difference between a MiG-21bis and F-16 is like that between a vintage Maruti 800 and top end Mercedes-Benz,” said a source.
India has recovered wreckage of an AMRAAM missile, which Pakistan can only use on an F-16, on Indian soil to bust its claim that it never deployed the US-made plane over India.
Pakistan is denying it used the AMRAAM because the US administration is not in favour of its use in enemy airspace and has limited its deployemnt to self-defence.
IAF on Thursday showed the wreckage of the missile during a press conference. “We have a video too of the dogfight,” the source said. India is likely to give the wreckage to the US.
Giving the details of the dogfight on Wednesday, sources said that 24 Pakistan F-16s approached India over the LoC. Of these, 3-4 aircraft entered Indian air space and could have bombed the Army’s brigade headquarters.
IAF aircraft including the Sukhoi Su-30MKI, MiG-21bis and Mirage-2000 were scrambled to intercept them. Two MiG-21 closest to the intruders intercepted them. An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft began coordinating the action.
Wg Cmdr Varthaman gave chase to one of the two-seater F-16 and a dogfight ensued. As the F-16 used its massive power-to-weight ration to escape, Wg Cmdr Varthaman locked the aircraft with his R-73 air-to-air missile and brought it down.
During the action, his MiG-21 got hit either near the LoC or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The hit on the F-16 was confirmed by the other MiG-21 pilot and Army Aviation officials.
According to reports emerging from Pakistan, Wg Cmdr Varthaman when he parachuted down and reached the ground asked locals who had surrounded him if he was in India or Pakistan. Some locals told him that he was in India.
The Dawn newspaper reported that the pilot told them his “back was broken” and he needed water. Some youngsters at that point started shouting “Pakistan Army zindabad”.
Abhinandan opened one round of fire in the air from his firearm even as the men picked up stones, He ran for about half-a-km while pointing his pistol and opening fire. “He jumped into a small pond where he tried to swallow some papers and soaked the others in water.”
