A twin-seater Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft of the IAF crashed today near Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh on a routine training mission. Fortunately, both pilots managed to eject safely, according to officials.
The IAF, while responding to this incident, ordered a court of inquiry to establish the cause of the crash. According to an official statement on X, the plane faced a system malfunction during the sorties.
It is a multirole fighter jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France. It first took to the skies in the year 1978, and the first units were delivered in 1984 to the French Air Force. A total number of 600 Mirage 2000 jets were produced, out of which half of them were exported to other countries, including India.
The Mirage 2000 has quite a few operational histories with the Indian Air Force in combat, with great success achieved during the Kargil War, striking at targets with pinpoint accuracy at enemy positions. It was also the aircraft used for the Balakot airstrike in 2019, whereby a terrorist camp deep inside Pakistani territory was hit successfully.
