We take pride in flying this beautiful machine: IAF fighters on Mirage 2000

Mirage 2000, an aircraft which has for long been a part of the Indian Air Force's history, especially the Kargil War, still remains "very important" for fighter pilots, who take "pride in flying this beautiful machine."

Commemorating 20 years of the 1999 Kargil War, the Indian Air Force at Gwalior Air Base on Monday recreated the Tiger Hill attack and displayed aircraft used during the 'Operation Vijay'.

Talking about the event, Squadron Leader Kapil Kareem told ANI, "For any fighter pilot, he gets his wings at the age of 20-21. Since then, he is prepared for missions he is supposed to undertake in an actual war scenario. It can be an air to ground bombing or an air defence mission. So, he is every day prepared for that. We take pride in flying this beautiful machine. The capabilities are immense with the air defence, air to ground roles that can be undertaken by this aircraft. This beautiful machine never stands in between you and the mission being executed."

"Mirage 2000 is a very important aircraft for the Indian Air Force. When it was inducted, at that time it was superior to its adversaries and contemporaries at that time. In the last 20 years since the Kargil War, we have updated the aircraft and that superiority still exists in our scenario," Squadron Leader Sahil Kapoor said.

Resonating similar sentiments, Technical Engineer Franklin Ajay said, "Mirage 2000 is one of the most potent aircraft. It's a multirole air superiority aircraft. The reason why Mirage 2000 is chosen for any of the operations is because of its capability and its precision."

He added, "Unlike most of the aircraft, this aircraft itself is very modular... It's is very maintenance-friendly, it is very easy to repair and bring it back into operations."

The Year 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of victory in 'Operation Vijay', popularly known as the 'Kargil War'. The Indian Army has planned celebratory events across the country for from July 25-27.