The accidental firing of a BrahMos supersonic missile in March two years ago – the missile landed in Pakistan – was due to its combat connectors ‘staying connected to the junction box,’ leading to the BrahMos being misfired, the Indian Air Force (IAF) informed the Delhi high court on Friday, according to The Economic Times.

This is the first time that the IAF has revealed the reason behind the incident, which took place on March 9, 2022. Islamabad had lodged its protest with New Delhi the next day.

“The combat crew, (despite) knowing that that the combat connectors of combat missiles are connected to the junction box, failed to intervene to prevent the Mobile Autonomous Launcher commander from committing an unsafe act of launching the Combat Missile, resulting in a launch into the neighbouring nation, thereby causing a potential threat to any airborne/ground object/personnel,” the IAF noted in its reply to the high court.

The incident caused a loss to the tune of ₹25 crore to the government exchequer, it said, adding that the Indian Air Force's ‘reputation was damaged as well.’ The force also described the incident as one which had the ‘effect of affecting the relations’ between India and Pakistan.

The Court of Inquiry (CoI), set by the IAF days after the misfire, had examined as many as 16 witnesses, and found Group Captain Saurabh Gupta, Squadron Leader Pranjal Singh, and Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma – all members of the Combat Team – responsible for ‘various acts of omission and commission leading to the firing of the missile.’

It was in response to Wing Commander Sharma's petition, that the IAF submitted its reply in the high court. Responding to the Wing Commander ascribing blame on Air Commodore JT Kurien, it termed his allegations as ‘conjectures, surmises, baseless, and without any substantiating evidence.’

The Indian Air Force also dismissed Sharma's contention that he was ‘in no position to avert the firing of the missile.’