In the Name of Counter-Terrorism
"Chieftain, this is Scorpion flight. We just passed over Kasur.1 No lights visible. The enemy may be expecting us."
"Probably a blackout. They'll have heard about the air raids in the north. They can't know our specific target."
"Scorpion flight, copy."
Pandit worried that if the target was blacked out too, his unguided bombs would be useless.
"All aircraft, check weapon switches. Arm laser-guided bomb release."
Pandit continued. Distance-wise, at least, the mission was half done. The thought eased the pressure slightly. Whether he could see the target or not, he would drop his bombs and slip back across the border to the east. He began methodically checking the weapons panel, flipping the low-drag bomb switches to armed.
"Ground-to-air radar active." A cold female voice drifted through the cockpit; the warning system was working. Pandit checked the bearing. E-band emissions at his four o'clock, sweeping and attempting to track. Pakistani radar, obviously; but how far away was unclear. Pandit was a cautious man. He knew that staying alive meant preparing for the worst.
"Scorpion flight, descend to four hundred metres."
"Scorpion Two, copy."
The four aircraft, wings at the intermediate sweep, dropped lower, leaving the Black Panther MiG-21s above. The Pakistanis on the ground could now clearly hear the roar of aircraft passing through the night overhead. The MiG-27 handled well at low altitude; it was a reasonable platform for low-level strikes. That said, it was also an easy mark for anti-aircraft guns, so Pandit had to keep watch for AAA radar as well.
"Fifteen kilometres to target. Maintain heading. Enter the runway bombing run in sequence."
Pandit switched on the right-hand CRT and powered up the reconnaissance pod. Against the green background, none of the bright lights an airport should show at night were visible. The place was blacked out. After a moment he found the airfield. A tall structure was plainly the navigation tower; the primary target. He supposed no one would be defending it; it was a civilian airport, after all.
"Chieftain, this is Scorpion One. The enemy has imposed a blackout. Requesting permission to abort the runway attack and proceed with precision strikes on airfield facilities."
"Scorpion One, approved. Abort runway attack. You may use laser-guided bombs on airfield facilities." The command post agreed at once. This had been foreseen. Without a blackout, the runway would have been the obvious target, which was why only two aircraft in the first wave carried LGBs. Pandit's own aircraft was loaded with unguided low-drag bombs.
"Scorpion Two and Three, you carry out the bombing. I will lase the target."
"Scorpion Two, copy."
Everything proceeded as rehearsed. The two LGB-armed aircraft began a rapid climb while Pandit reduced his wing sweep to the minimum, as if configured for landing, allowing the MiG-27 to fly slowly and steadily. His task now was to hold the laser precisely on target; he could not overfly it before the bombs arrived.
The laser pod painted the navigation tower. On the low-light CRT, a patch of faintly shimmering white appeared on the dark mass of buildings ahead.
"Scorpion Two has the spot."
Pandit looked up. Two aircraft were accelerating toward the target overhead, above a thousand metres; dangerously exposed to radar, but the attack would last only an instant.
A violent explosion bloomed ahead. The bombs had struck the civilian airport's navigation facilities squarely. The control tower caught fire.
"Scorpion lead, we hit the target," Scorpion Two called.
"I see it. Return to base immediately."
"Captain, in the flash of the explosion I spotted two C-130s on the apron. Far end of the runway." Scorpion Two continued reporting. This piqued Pandit's interest. The target was right in front of him. Perhaps he could try his luck with his unguided bombs. He recalled that beyond the end of this runway was open ground; like every airport, there would be a grass overrun area with no housing. Even if he missed (almost a certainty with dumb bombs), he would not hit any civilian target. On the first night of the war, he could not bring his bombs home unused.
"Leave it to us. You two return immediately. Watch for SAMs."
The captain stayed in the fight. He held the aircraft in autopilot-stabilised level flight and began scanning with his reconnaissance pod. Following the bomber's description, he did find two aircraft at the far end of the airfield, well concealed. Had the explosion not lit them up, they would have gone unnoticed.
"Scorpion Four, stay on my wing. We can't bring these bombs back. We'll do a level drop."
"But we can't see the target," his wingman said. He was right: the pod was fixed along the fuselage centreline, so its downward viewing angle was limited. As the aircraft neared the target overhead, the pod could no longer see below. Without night-vision goggles, looking out of the cockpit was like staring into an inkwell.
The captain thought for a moment. His wingman had a point, but the idea of returning from the first night of the war without dropping a single bomb was intolerable.
"Relax. I know this area well. I guarantee there's nothing civilian within a kilometre. We won't face a court martial. Arm the low-drag bombs."
"Armed."
"Heading 255. Speed 320."
"Good. Hold level flight. Match my speed into the bombing zone."
The captain adjusted his heading quickly. While he could still see the target, he aligned the nose. The laser rangefinder calculated the slant range, but could provide no release cue. On the MiG-27, using the computer for a continuously computed impact point required placing the target inside the HUD reticle; that was a daytime option only.
He decided to dispense with every aiming aid and drop purely on instinct. Then he remembered: these two MiG-27s were loaded with retarded anti-runway bombs,2 whose ballistic characteristics differed from standard free-fall munitions. He would have to hold his nerve. The bombs would fan out in a dense wall of fire; perhaps one would land near the target.
"Arm the bomb fuzes."
"Armed."
The target crept across his screen, then slid off the bottom, leaving the pod's field of view. It was directly below now; he simply could not see it.
"Scorpion Four, wait for my call. Steady."
"Scorpion Four, copy."
"…"
"Release."
"Released."
Both aircraft dropped their loads and banked away. They had completed more than half a turn before the delayed-action bombs finally detonated behind them. Captain Pandit craned his neck. In the firelight, he saw a mosque collapsing.
"Captain, I think we…"
"This…"
"Are we in trouble?"
"No. Do not discuss this on the radio. We're heading home."
1. Kasur (卡苏尔): A city in Punjab, Pakistan, approximately 55 km southeast of Lahore and close to the Indian border. Pandit's flight passing over Kasur without seeing lights confirms the blackout extends well beyond the immediate target area. ↩
2. Anti-runway bombs (反跑道炸弹): Likely the French Durandal or a similar runway-cratering munition. These are retarded by parachute after release, then fire a rocket motor to drive the penetrator through concrete. Their ballistic trajectory differs significantly from a conventional free-fall bomb, which is why Pandit must adjust his timing. The irony is that these specialised weapons, designed for precision runway denial, end up being dropped blind onto a target the pilot cannot see. ↩