Crystal Maze (USAF designation AGM-142) standoff missiles mounted on a B-52H bomber

Balakot airstrike: The Indian Air Force (IAF) planned to use the Crystal Maze missile in conjunction with SPICE-2000 penetrator bombs that Mirage 2000 jets dropped

According to sources, the operation had planned to use six Israeli Spice-2000 Penetrator type PGM (precision-guided munition) to hit the targets, and five of them had hit the designated mean point of impact (DMPI) on the buildings in the Balakot complex. Rafael promoted a "Smart Precise Impact Cost Effective" (SPICE) add-on "smart bomb" guidance kit for Mk-84 bombs, this system was based on the Popeye seekers

Five of the six designated targets were successfully hit by the Indian Air Force (IAF) during its air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province The Indian Express has reported.

According to a report, the IAF wanted to use Israeli air-to-surface missiles Crystal Maze to hit the targets in Balakot but could not use it due to a heavy cloud cover over the region, which did not allow a direct line of sight to the pilots. Once launched, "the Crystal Maze requires acquisition of [the] target visually by the pilot in the last phase of the attack." In other words, the weapon flies to its target based on Pre-fed Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates but requires the pilot of the launching platform to manually steer it to its precise point of impact through an electronic data-link between the launch aircraft with the weapon, Vishnu Som of NDTV has reported.

The IAF fighter jets which conducted the strike were carrying Crystal Maze AGM 142 munition along with the Spice-2000 bombs used during the mission.

Although the Crystal Maze finds its target using Global Positioning System coordinates fed into it, the pilot of the launching aircraft is required to manually steer it using an electronic data-link between the aircraft and the weapon.

“The Crystal Maze requires acquisition of target visually by the pilot in the last phase of the attack,” NDTV has quoted a source as saying.

The missile would have been advantageous not only because it would have caused more visible damage to the structures at the terror camp but also because it gives a live video feed of the weapon hitting its target.

The IAF’s claim that it hit targets in Balakot successfully has been called into question by some analysts, who suggest that the targets may have been missed due to incorrect data being fed into the Spice-2000 bombs.

Had the IAF used Crystal Maze, it would have video footage to prove its claim. The IAF has, for now, bolstered its claim of having hit the targets successfully by showing some journalists at least one high-resolution monochrome image of the site which shows some damage was inflicted on the buildings.

The Crystal Maze is a stand-off range missile, which means that the aircraft firing it need not come very close to the target. India is reported to have obtained this missile from Israel sometime around the year 2005.The missile can be fired from as far as 80 km. The missile is powered by a solid-fuel rocket motor in the WPU-14/B propulsion section. Its 340 kg (750 lb) blast-fragmentation warhead is triggered by a tail-mounted FMU-124C/B impact fuse. Accuracy is quoted to be around an astounding 3 m (10 ft) CEP. 

The report says that the Crystal Maze missile “has an inertial measurement unit (IMU) for mid-course guidance while its terminal phase can use either an imaging infrared (IIR) or Television (TV) seeker to hit the target.”

“While the missile fitted with IIR works on the fire-and-forget principal, the TV version is a fire-and-update mode, which allows the pilot to choose an intended target from a select group. The warhead can be either a blast fragmentation or a penetrator,” the news channel’s report adds.

An Indian Air Force review of its February 26 air strike on Balakot in Pakistan has shown that its aircraft hit five of six designated mean point of impact (DMPI) on buildings in the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror training complex. The detailed review, two sources conversant with it told The Indian Express, focuses on the strengths, weaknesses and lessons learnt from the air operation.

While acknowledging there could be a better weapon to target-matching and a better feedback loop to win the propaganda war, the review has highlighted the positives in terms of maintaining surprise, security of operations, pilot proficiency and accuracy of the weapon used. It also has hitherto unpublished details of the operation based on extensive debriefing and assessment.

According to sources, the operation had planned to use six Israeli Spice-2000 Penetrator type PGM (precision-guided munition) to hit the targets, and five of them had hit the designated mean point of impact (DMPI) on the buildings in the Balakot complex.

One PGM, sources said, did not leave the Mirage-2000 aircraft because it is a 35-year old legacy aircraft and there was drift in the inertial navigation system. It meant that there was a mismatch between the location seen by the PGM and the aircraft at the point of the delivery of the PGM, which led to it not being fired from the aircraft.

Moreover, the IAF had also carried the Crystal Maze AGM 142 munition along with the Spice-2000 to hit the target. The Crystal Maze PGM could not, however, be fired because of heavy cloud cover which did not allow pilots to have a line of sight over the target area.

With its backward data linkage, Crystal Maze would have provided a video image of the target being hit which would have helped IAF quell doubts raised in the international media about the effectiveness of its air strike.

“In hindsight, we achieved our aim, hitting five of the six DMPI. Only one was unused. But considering the nature of the propaganda war that needed to be won, we could have used a weapon which would have flattened the target and we could have also sent a platform that gets us clear images or video of the destruction,” sources said.


The IAF has Spice-2000 penetrator type PGM, and not Spice-2000 Mark 84, in its inventory which can be fired from a stand-off distance — in this case, from the Indian side of the Line of Control. One of the rules of engagement stipulated for the operation was not to cross the LoC, although some Mirage-2000 aircraft, which were trying to fire Crystal Maze, did cross over to the other side to get a better line of sight on the target.

The review has highlighted the fact that full surprise was achieved by the IAF, through the selection of target, means of operation and use of deception. This happened after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was on full air defence alert mode, as seen by 6-8 airfields from where aircraft were scrambled after Balakot was hit.

The target selected was in the middle of nowhere, providing surprise at an operational level, and the deception used was so effective that the closest PAF aircraft were 150 km away, near Bahawalpur, from the IAF fighters.

Moreover, the IAF has concluded that the security of the operation was of the highest order with no breach of communication networks despite the fact that more than 6,000 people were involved in one way or the other. But the actual target at Balakot was known to less than 10 persons in Air Headquarters.

The assessment has also shown that the accuracy of weapons used was better than stated — Spice-2000 PGM has a circular error of probability of 3 metre — with the targets being accurately hit despite multiple PGMs hitting the same target. This has given greater confidence to the IAF on the use of Spice-2000 PGM.

The review found pilot proficiency to be of the highest level, with commanding officers leading from the front. It is learnt that five of the pilots have been recommended for gallantry awards. (With reporting by Indian Express, Swarajmag, NDTV & Designated Systems)

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