Tejas-fired bomb missed target, probe ordered: IAF

A laser-guided bomb fired by the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft missed its target during an exercise in Pokhran in Rajasthan and a probe had been ordered into this, a senior Indian Air Force officer said on Monday.

This apart, the 'Iron Fist 2016' exercise on Friday was "largely successful", the officer said, adding the bomb missing the target was not due to pilot error.

"It is very much clear that there was no pilot error or technical snag. It was probably the laser-guided kit imported from Israel that may have malfunctioned," the official said.

The IAF initially said the laser-guided bomb and an air-to-air missile fired by Tejas had engaged targets with "deadly precision".

The official said Tejas was granted a kill even though the laser proximity fuse, which guides the bomb to the target, did not fire.

The IAF exercise saw the participation of 181 aircraft and firing of 71 bombs, 500 rockets and at least five air-to-air missiles.

"If one or two bombs could not hit the targets, it is completely normal during such mammoth firepower demonstration," the official said.