In a significant development, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has disclosed the reasons behind the accidental firing of a BrahMos missile which landed in Pakistan in March 2022. In a reply to the Delhi High Court, the IAF has said that the missile’s combat connectors remained connected to the junction box which led to the accidental firing of the missile.
The IAF showed and shared findings from the March 2022 Court of Inquiry, which investigated the mishap. The IAF said that the convoy commander of the convoy which was to move to location as part of the inspection failed to ensure safe transit of the convoy by not ensuring disconnection of combat connectors of the missile loaded on the mobile autonomous launcher prior to the movement.
Describing the incident as one which had the effect of affecting the relations with Pakistan, the IAF told the HC (High Court) that a conscious and considered decision was taken to invoke the President’s pleasure clause to terminate the services of the three officials.
The affair strained the India-Pakistan relations prompting the IAF to make a decisive move by discharging three officers under the President’s pleasure clause, a decision not made lightly and one that hasn’t been taken in two decades.
In a reply, the Wing Commander UN Pathak, Deputy Judge Advocate General informed the court after 23 years as facts and circumstances of the case warranted such action. “The fact that the international community was interested to find and know the practical details regarding the firing of the BrahMos missile, the authorities decided that the trial of these three officers by a court martial was inexpedient, the IAF said in a reply an Indian media agency reported.
Likewise, it was decided that the combat crew “knowing that the combat connectors of the 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 combat missiles resulting in the launch of missile into the neighbouring nation, thereby causing potential threat to any airborne, ground object or personnel and also causing damage to the reputation of the IAF and nation at large and a loss of Rs 24,90,85,000.00 to the government exchequer.
According to the reply, these were violations of Combat op SOP of March 2021. The reply was filed in response to Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma petition in the Delhi HC, which accuses an Air Commodore and a squadron leader of “ignoring and overriding the safety precaution popups and disregarding the bright and conspicuous red colour warning regarding the danger of firing a live weapon.”
The IAF refuted the Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma’s allegations stating that Air Commodore JT Kurien was not responsible for the operations undertaken by the unit and dismissed the accusations as conjectures, surmises, bald, brainless and without any substantiating evidence.
The IAF labelled Sharma’s assertion completely false, noting that he was present and witnessed the operations inside the Mobile Autonomous Launcher. The Court of Inquiry had blamed Group Captain Saurabh Gupta, Squadron Leader Pranjal Singh and Sharma who were part of the combat team for the mishap and citing various acts of commission and omission leading to the fire of the missile.
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