IAF to buy 100 more Balakot bombs, signs Rs 300 cr deal with Israel

The Indian Air Force on Thursday signed a deal worth around Rs 300 crore for buying more than 100 SPICE bombs from Israel.

SPICE bombs were used by the Air Force to attack the madrasa of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot, Pakistan, on February 26.

As per the contract, the advanced SPICE bombs would be delivered to the Air Force in the next three months as the deal is under emergency powers.

SPICE bomb has a standoff range of 60 kilometres and approaches the target as its unique scene-matching algorithm compares the electro-optical image received in real-time via the weapon seeker with mission reference data stored in the weapon computer memory and adjusts the flight path accordingly. SPICE 2000 consists of an add-on kit for warheads such as the MK-84, BLU-109, APW and RAP-2000.

The IAF had conducted the Balakot airstrikes on February 27 in response to the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama which resulted in the martyrdom of 40 CRPF personnel.

 indiatoday