Pakistan has denied that F-16 jets were part of the operation—as any such admission would violate US sale conditions of not letting Pakistan use F-16s in an offensive role.
In a joint presser by the Indian armed forces on Thursday, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor stated that India has enough evidence to prove that Pakistan deployed US-made F-16 fighter jets to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has denied that F-16 jets were part of the operation—as any such admission would violate US sale conditions of not letting Pakistan use F-16s in an offensive role.
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Showing the proof, Kapoor said parts of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AVRAAM), which is carried only on the F-16, was recovered east of Rajouri within the Indian territory.
On Wednesday, Pakistan Air Force aircraft (PAF) violated Indian airspace in J&K and attempted air strikes but caused little damage on the ground as the bombs fell in uninhabited areas near military installations. In the process of thwarting the PAF’s intrusion, the IAF lost a MiG-21 Bison–its pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who ejected across the Line of Control, after bringing down a Pakistani F-16 during the aerial confrontation to repel the Pakistani attack.
Pakistan has been receiving F-16 fighters from the US since the early 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was the US President and Zia was the military dictator of Pakistan.
The press briefing comes hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the captured IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan will be released tomorrow as a “peace gesture”. The move was welcomed by the Indian Air Forces.
F-16C Specifications
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 49 ft 5 in (15.06 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)
Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
Wing area: 300 ft2 (27.87 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 64A204 root and tip
Empty weight: 18,900 lb (8,570 kg)
Loaded weight: 26,500 lb (12,000 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,200 kg)
Internal fuel: 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg)[4]
Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F110-GE-129 (for F-16C/D Block 30-40-50) or Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220/220E afterburning turbofan
Dry thrust: 17,155 lbf (76.3 kN)
Thrust with afterburner: 28,600 lbf (127 kN)
Performance
Maximum speed:
At sea level: Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,470 km/h)[71]
At altitude: Mach 2[4] (1,320 mph; 2,120 km/h) clean configuration
Combat radius: 340 mi (295 nmi; 550 km) on a hi-lo-hi mission with four 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
Ferry range: 2,280 nmi (2,620 mi; 4,220 km) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft[4] (15,240+ m)
Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Wing loading: 88.3 lb/ft2 (431 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 1.095 (1.24 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)[285]
Maximum g-load: +9.0 g
Armament
Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary cannon, 511 rounds
Hardpoints: 2 × wing-tip air-to-air missile launch rails, 6 × under-wing, and 3 × under-fuselage pylon (2 of 3 for sensors) stations with a capacity of up to 17,000 lb (7,700 kg) of stores
Rockets:
4 × LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19/7 × Hydra 70 mm/APKWS[286] rockets, respectively)
4 × LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19 × CRV7 70 mm rockets)
4 × LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4 × Zuni 127 mm rockets)
Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles:
2 × AIM-7 Sparrow
6 × AIM-9 Sidewinder
6 × AIM-120 AMRAAM
6 × IRIS-T
6 × Python-4
6 × Python-5
Air-to-surface missiles:
6 × AGM-65 Maverick
4 × AGM-88 HARM
AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
Anti-ship missiles:
2 × AGM-84 Harpoon
4 × AGM-119 Penguin
Bombs:
8 × CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
8 × CBU-89 Gator mine
8 × CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon
4 × Mark 84 general-purpose bombs
8 × Mark 83 GP bombs
12 × Mark 82 GP bombs
8 × GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)
4 × GBU-10 Paveway II
6 × GBU-12 Paveway II
4 × GBU-24 Paveway III
4 × GBU-27 Paveway III
4 × Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) series
4 × AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD)
B61 nuclear bomb
B83 nuclear bomb