Operation Sindoor: What are SCALP missiles that IAF Rafale jets used to destroy Lashkar Jaish bases in Pakistan
New Delhi: Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Bahawalpur which is a major base of Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit. The military strikes were carried out under ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Indian Army said in a statement released at 1.44 am. According to reports, IAF’s Rafale fighter aircraft executed the strikes using the Scalp and Hammer missiles. Here in this article, we will tell you about these missiles.
The SCALP provides the IAF with a long-range, stealthy capability to strike deep into enemy territory at strategic targets, while the HAMMER offers a more versatile, medium-range precision strike option against a wider array of targets, including hardened structures and potentially moving targets.
What is Scalp Missile:
- STORM SHADOW/SCALP is an air-launched long range, conventionally armed, deep strike weapon
- These missiles are designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against high value fixed or stationary targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure.
- SCALP is a 1,300 kg (2,870 lb) air-launched cruise missile with conventional explosives.
- Typically launched from UK’s Eurofighter Typhoon or France’s Rafale fighter jets.
- Manufactured by MBDA, a European defense company.
- Longest-range Western missile provided to Ukraine — 3× longer range than Ukraine’s previous capabilities.
- Effective for striking deep behind Russian front lines in occupied Ukrainian territory.
- Designed for preplanned attacks on high-value, fixed, or stationary targets (e.g., bunkers, key infrastructure).
- Previously used in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
“A little while ago, the Indian Armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the Army said. It said the actions by the Indian Armed forces have been “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”.
“No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the Indian Army said. India’s actions came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack triggered widespread outrage in India and abroad. “These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered,” the Army said in the statement.
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