BrahMos accidental firing a case of policy failure: Sacked Wing Commander

Sacked Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma has alleged that the accidental firing of the BrahMhos missile in March last year was a case of "policy failure" and has called the inquiry unfair, the Economic Times reported.

Sharma has alleged that the policy failure which led to the misfiring is being camouflaged by terminating him under Section 18 of the Air Force Act.

He has further accused the Air Vice Marshal (Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (operations) of absolving himself and giving a clean chit to the Squadron leader and the Air Commodore without carrying out a proper inquiry.

In a case of accidental firing, the BrahMos combat missile landed in Pakistan in March last year.

Sharma has accused the Air Commodore and Squadron Leader of ignoring and overriding the safety precaution popups and ignoring the bright and conspicuous Red colour warning regarding the danger of firing a Live Weapon, the report said.

The Wing Commander, in his petition filed in the Delhi High Court last month, has alleged that the Squadron leader ordered an "alternate mission sequence" for "reasons best known to him" and informed the Air Commodore "of the change on the secured operations communication network, which bypassed the safety check of utilising live weapons during simulated exercise", the ET report said quoting his petition in court.

The petition, further said that the said communication occurred was available only to the Squadron Leader, and the Air Commodore.

And adds that the Air Vice Marshal did not even pose a question or seek an explanation from the Air Commodore and Squadron Leader while presiding over the inquiry court.

According to Sharma, before the accidental firing of the missile the Squadron had conducted training exercises using 'Live' weapons on several occasions by adopting certain processes.

Sharma has alleged that the Air Force officials were aware of the inherent risks of using Live Weapons for training purposes. The Directorate of Air Staff Inspection at Air Headquarters (DASI Team) had flagged the risks in the use of 'Live' weapon deployment for conducting planned simulation exercises in January 2022.

Sharma's petition adds that on the date of the incident, there was no specific regulation or prohibition, be it under the Combat SOP dated March 15, 2021, or any other associated directive, on the use of 'Live' weapons during simulated exercises.