IAF receives Spice-2000 'building blaster' buster bombs from Israel

Image Credit: ANI

New Delhi: In a major boost for India's aerial firepower, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has started receiving the 'building blaster' version of the Balakot airstrike-fame Spice-2000 bombs at the Gwalior airbase.

The Israeli firm has started the delivery of the Spice-2000 bombs to India and the first batch of these bombs was received recently, top IAF sources told news agency ANI. 

Indian Air Force (IAF) sources: IAF starts receiving the new version of the Spice 2000 bombs from Israel. The first batch of the new version of the bombs was delivered to India recently. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/k5HyYOKUN0

— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2019

The weapons have been delivered to Gwalior as it is the home base of the Indian Air Force's Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft fleet and they are the only fleet which can fire the Israeli bombs.

The Indian Air Force has signed an over Rs 250 crore contract with Israel for Mark 84 warhead and bombs, which can destroy buildings completely.

The IAF had signed a contract with Israel in June this year for acquiring more than 100 Spice-2000 bombs under the emergency procurement powers of the services given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre.

The contract was signed as the Indian Air Force wanted to acquire the bombs after their successful usage in the Balakot airstrikes against a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist camp in Pakistan.

During the Balakot strikes, the IAF had dropped Spice-2000 bombs from Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft after a pack of 12 of these fighters crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to strike the Jaish terror camp in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.