MiG-27
Lin Huaisheng paced outside the conference room. The seminar that had just ended had left him deeply uneasy, even as a mere listener. Some people, it seemed, did nothing but wait for external conditions to change, never willing to take the slightest initiative. They treated every opportunity as a trap. He found it intolerable.
Major General Xu Jingzhe appeared suddenly. He had been absent from the day's sessions; evidently he had other business.
"Take in all sides. Don't cling stubbornly to your own views, but don't let anyone else do your thinking for you either." The general seemed to know exactly what Lin was brooding about.
"I'll stick to presenting what I know firsthand, sir."
"Good. One piece of information for you: Senior Researcher Gao's views represent only his own opinion." The general spoke quietly. He had clearly been briefed on what the expert had said, despite not being present.
"Oh?"
"Your report has been postponed. Latest intelligence: every military airfield in northwestern India is on a war footing. Air defence missile units and AWACS squadrons are redeploying. No army movements detected yet. My assessment is that India will likely launch a new air offensive today or tomorrow."
"But the UN envoy is still there… the timing seems poor?"
"When will you learn? How many times have I told you? Intelligence analysts must never rush to conclusions. Experience shows that bad timing often carries a unique advantage. Perhaps the Indians believe this particular moment will catch Pakistan off guard."
"But I don't think air strikes alone can break Pakistan. I've met their pilots. They won't be beaten that easily. If anything, it's the Pakistan Army that's less reassuring."
"Precisely why the air force has sent a delegation there to learn."
"Right. I heard from a Pakistani pilot that an air force delegation is currently at Attock,1 doing exchanges with PAF 33 Wing. The leader's name is Song Ning, if I remember correctly."
"It's more than an exchange. Pakistan ordered a batch of J-10Bs2 the year before last; they're being tested and handed over there. The timing is delicate. The higher-ups have decided to leave our best pilots in Pakistan to observe real air combat and ground-based command and control. The Pakistanis have valuable experience with AWACS employment."
"AWACS employment?"
"Yes. We've been developing tactics for AWACS use, but real combat and electronic simulation are two different things. The command problem in particular."
"I can believe it. The PAF pilot I met was a group captain. Unless there's a major general aboard the AWACS, the authority issue is going to be awkward." Lin shrugged.
That evening, personnel at every Indian forward airfield received notice: all leave cancelled, no one to leave the base. Unofficial reports from various sources indicated that India was about to launch a genuine, full-scale air assault against Pakistan, no longer constrained by the Line of Control. The offensive would begin after the UN delegation departed. For the air force, eager for a fight, this was electrifying news. Days earlier, two young pilots from No. 24 Squadron had been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal3 for shooting down two Pakistani fighters. The announcement had set every pilot on the western front buzzing with restless ambition. Most felt the awards were too easily won, but everyone understood that war was the finest stage a soldier could ask for.
Good news kept arriving from the north. At noon, the Ministry of Defence announced that the Tridents had shot down an F-16. The announcement noted that whether the aircraft belonged to Pakistan's most formidable Falcon squadron was still being verified.
For years, Pakistan's F-16s had been a shadow that would not leave the Indian Air Force's mind. But the morning's reported score of one to nil (the military suppressed the loss of three MiG-21s) arrived at just the right moment, making the pilots of the older MiG-21s and MiG-27s feel that, against overwhelming numbers, Pakistan's F-16s were no longer an unshakeable enemy.
No. 29 Squadron,4 stationed at Jorbhat, was also gearing up. Everyone on the base had guessed the rumours of escalation were real. If the conflict were limited to skirmishes in Kashmir, there would be no reason to mobilise a squadron this far from the northern theatre.
Eight MiG-27UPGs sat in a line on the apron, surrounded by a cluster of compressed-air carts and power units, undergoing a thorough avionics check.
When Captain Pandit5 was summoned to the briefing room, it was already packed with whispering personnel. He saw at once that the large mission board was covered with aerial photographs and small-scale military maps. All the maps showed the same target: an airfield on the outskirts of a large city. The mission name at the top was still covered by a blue sheet stamped "CLASSIFIED," pinned in place. The captain knew the briefing room's arrangement was no different from the usual theatrical exercises, but the atmosphere today was unmistakably different. He found a corner, sat down, and tried to place the runway. No. 29 Squadron's MiG-27UPGs had trained extensively in delivering anti-runway munitions, and all simulated attacks used real airfield layouts from staff maps. Pandit could recognise most airfields in Pakistan and western China. This was clearly a civilian airport: a wide runway and apron, a sizeable terminal. In Pakistan, though, many airports served both military and civilian traffic.
He finally placed it. Lahore's international airport.6 He drew a sharp breath, not because the target was far beyond the northern conflict zone; he had expected the war to widen. It was because this area fell squarely within No. 5 Squadron's zone of responsibility. That was a squadron every Indian bomber pilot wanted to avoid. Those F-16C/Ds with conformal fuel tanks on the spine could loiter over a sector for hours, like a ghost that would not leave.
"Quiet, please." Squadron Leader Makunda7 walked in. The pilots fell silent at once.
The squadron leader tore away the sheet covering the mission name, revealing the attack plan chalked underneath. It was codenamed "Punishment." No. 29 Squadron would fly two waves along similar routes to bomb PAF No. 35 Transport Squadron's8 facilities and runway at Lahore. Pandit, sitting below, knew that none of these facilities could be clearly distinguished as military or civilian. Lahore's airport handled heavy civilian traffic every day.
"Gentlemen, you've all heard the rumours about war. They're true. The Ministry of Defence has decided to launch a full-scale air offensive beginning tomorrow at dawn." The squadron leader was blunt. The timing was far more urgent than anyone had anticipated. Moreover, no one yet understood what "full-scale air offensive" actually meant. The Indian Air Force had never demonstrated the command capability for a mass simultaneous launch.
"Multiple bases attacking at once?"
"Classified. You don't need to know. But use your heads: how else would we exploit our numerical advantage?" The squadron leader rapped the top photograph.
"This is the target. Lahore airport. Two hundred kilometres in a straight line. An ideal target. You can see the routes. We enter low from heading 290, drop our ordnance, and withdraw north. Targets are marked here: navigation station, runway, and the IV Corps9 air-defence radar position on the hills to the west." He punched each red circle on the aerial photograph as he named it.
"Beyond the designated targets: any Il-78, C-130, or PAF helicopter parked on the apron."
"What about civilian aircraft?" a pilot asked.
"Under no circumstances attack civilian airliners or any other civilian target. That includes the terminal, nearby buildings, mosques, and so on." Heads nodded, as though everyone were confident. In truth, they all knew that on a CRT's low-light image from a night-attack pod, an Il-78 and a Boeing 747 at ten kilometres were nearly indistinguishable, and ninety-five per cent of the traffic on that runway was civilian.
"Who covers us?"
"First wave: No. 23 Squadron. Second wave: No. 1 Squadron out of Gwalior.10 Their Mirage 2000s will also handle part of the ground-attack tasking. They'll cross the border ahead of us to suppress air defences, then cover our withdrawal."
Murmuring broke out. No. 1 Squadron's Mirage 2000s were reassuring, but No. 23 Squadron flew MiG-21s, which inspired less confidence.
"Is that escort really adequate?"
"Of course. This is Air Headquarters' plan." The squadron leader spoke firmly, though his shifting eyes said plainly: How would I know?
"How do we make sure their Falcons don't jump us?" Pandit asked.
Makunda paused. He turned slowly from the board to face the pilots.
"Air Headquarters is counting on the full-scale assault to disrupt their command and control. Remember, gentlemen: Lahore is very close to the border. The moment you've dropped your ordnance, turn straight back. If conditions allow, stay as low as possible. Their Doppler radars will be degraded by ground clutter." Seeing no response from the pilots, the squadron leader moved on rather than dwell on the unpleasant subject. "Now for the details. Near IV Corps headquarters, there may be an FD-200011 SAM battery. In my view, that's the real threat. Last month the battery was near Shahdara,12 but it's moved since."
"Can we route around it? Stay outside its engagement envelope?"
"Unfortunately, we haven't located the battery's current position. Intelligence believes the acquisition radar, once active, will probably radiate in C-band or J-band. Your RWR may classify it as an S-300. Its engagement envelope is very similar."
"What if we fly into its range?"
"Drop to low altitude and break the track. Leave the rest to No. 1 Squadron's Mirages. They'll be carrying ARMAT13 anti-radiation missiles for suppression; at the very least, they can force it off the air. One piece of recent technical intelligence: do not try to jam it with your ECM pod. This missile system prioritises jamming sources."
"But, Squadron Leader, the first wave won't have the Mirage 2000 escort," Pandit said. The other pilots were clearly waiting for the answer to this one too.
"I believe the element of surprise in the first wave is the best protection we'll have. We can catch them flat-footed. Lahore has not taken a bomb since 1990. They'll be complacent." A pause. "Besides, I believe God protects every brave soldier."
1. Attock (阿塔克): PAF Base Minhas (Kamra), located near Attock in Punjab. Home to PAF No. 33 Wing and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, where JF-17s and, in the novel, J-10Bs are assembled and tested. ↩
2. J-10B (歼10B): The Chengdu J-10B, an upgraded multirole fighter with a passive electronically scanned array radar and diverterless supersonic inlet. Pakistan's acquisition of the J-10C (export designation J-10CE) was confirmed in 2022. The novel's timeline predates this, using the J-10B designation. The aircraft's presence at Kamra during an active conflict creates the "delicate timing" Xu describes. ↩
3. Vayu Sena Medal (勇士轮形勋章): The Vayu Sena Medal (VSM) is an IAF gallantry decoration. The Chinese 勇士轮形 literally renders as "warrior wheel-shaped," a description of the medal's design. The two pilots awarded are from No. 24 Squadron, i.e. Goyal and Jafar, whose kill claims were stage-managed in Chapter 8. ↩
4. No. 29 Squadron "Scorpions" (第29中队): An IAF ground-attack squadron that historically operated MiG-27UPGs. The real No. 29 was based at Jodhpur; the novel places it at "Jorbhat" (焦尔布特), which may be a fictionalised rendering or a reference to Jorhat in Assam, though the latter would be geographically odd for a western strike mission. The squadron was disbanded in December 2019 when the MiG-27 was retired from IAF service. ↩
5. Captain Pandit (潘迪特上尉): A MiG-27 pilot with No. 29 Squadron. The name is a common Brahmin surname. His role in the novel parallels Metis in Chapter 14: a competent junior pilot assigned to fly obsolescent equipment into the teeth of a superior enemy. ↩
6. Lahore airport: Allama Iqbal International Airport (ICAO: OPLA), Pakistan's second-busiest airport. Its dual civil-military use makes it a legally and morally ambiguous target, a tension the briefing scene exploits. ↩
7. Squadron Leader Makunda (马昆达中校): The commanding officer of No. 29 Squadron. The Chinese 中校 corresponds to Wing Commander in IAF nomenclature; "Squadron Leader" is used here as the functional title of the unit's CO. ↩
8. No. 35 Transport Squadron (第35运输中队): A PAF transport unit based at Lahore operating C-130 Hercules and Il-78 tanker aircraft. The assignment of a ground-attack squadron to strike a transport unit's facilities reflects the strategic logic of the campaign: cripple Pakistan's air logistics rather than seek further air-to-air kills. ↩
9. IV Corps (第4集团军): The Pakistani Army's IV Corps, headquartered in Lahore. Its air-defence radar on the hills west of the airport is a secondary target. ↩
10. No. 1 Squadron "Tigers" / Gwalior (第1中队 / 瓜廖尔): IAF No. 1 Squadron "Tigers," one of the IAF's most distinguished units, operating Mirage 2000H fighters from Gwalior Air Force Station in Madhya Pradesh. The Mirage 2000's precision-strike and SEAD capabilities make it the natural choice for suppressing the FD-2000 battery. No. 23 Squadron, providing first-wave escort, is a MiG-21 unit; the disparity in capability between the two escort forces is the chapter's central anxiety. ↩
11. FD-2000 (FD-2000防空导弹): The export variant of China's HQ-9 long-range surface-to-air missile system, broadly comparable to the Russian S-300PMU. Pakistan ordered the HQ-9P variant, which entered service in 2021. The system's engagement envelope of approximately 125 km and its ability to target jamming sources (described in the briefing) make it a formidable threat to aircraft relying on electronic countermeasures. ↩
12. Shahdara (沙赫德拉): A suburb northeast of Lahore, on the north bank of the Ravi river. A plausible location for an air-defence battery covering the airport and IV Corps headquarters. ↩
13. ARMAT (阿玛特反辐射导弹): The Matra ARMAT (Anti-Radar Martel), a French anti-radiation missile with a range of approximately 120 km. Designed to home on radar emissions, it was integrated onto IAF Mirage 2000s. The squadron leader's warning that the FD-2000 "prioritises jamming sources" means the system can switch from tracking the aircraft to tracking the ECM pod's emissions, making jamming counterproductive. ↩