The recent Indian Air Force attempts at air strikes come out as amateurish.
Not surprising, considering that it has limited experience in external
combat.
More impressive is the satellite imagery techniques used to analyse the
airstrikes in the Balakot area.
At around 3:30 a.m. local time on February 26, a flight of 12 Mirage 2000
multi-role fighters reportedly attacked facilities of the terrorist group
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) near Balakot town in Mansehra District, Pakistan.
Using open-source evidence, experts were able to geolocate the site of the
attack and provide a preliminary damage assessment.
While most sources at the time identified the strike as taking place in the
Pakistani town of Balakot, others located the strike at “Jaba Top,” a likely
reference to a mountain top near the village of Jaba, about 10 kilometers
south of Balakot.
It appears that the payload was dropped in a hurry and impacted an open
area. Photographs taken in a wooded area did not show any damaged
structures.
Initial reports stated that Mirage 2000s dropped 1,000-kilogram
(approximately 2,000 pound) bombs on their targets. The Israel-made
SPICE-2000 bomb was used in the strike.
India claimed that the facility, roughly 10 kilometres into
Pakistani-administered Kashmir and near the town of Jaba, was largely
destroyed, resulting in the death of hundreds of militants.
Satellite imagery, acquired by Planet Labs Inc. on the morning of 27
February, calls this claim into question.
Read details with supporting images.
http://greatgameindia.com/forensic-satellite-analysis-balakot-airstrike/#disqus_thread
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Eddie
