Mirage 2000 fighter jet tyre stolen from truck near Lucknow airbase

In a shocking incident, unidentified miscreants have stolen a tyre of a Mirage fighter jet in Lucknow. The thieves stole the tyre from a truck that was carrying military goods to the Jodhpur airbase from Bakshi Ka Talab airbase. The theft took place on the night of November 27 at Shaheed Path in Lucknow, and further investigation is now underway.

The unidentified miscreants made the tyre ‘heist’ from the truck while it was on its way to the Jodhpur airbase. The truck driver was carrying the consignment of military goods from the Bakshi-Ka-Talab airbase to Jodhpur when he got stuck in a traffic jam on Shaheed Path. The miscreants travelling in a Scorpio vehicle used this block to their advantage and snipped off the strap used to tie the tyre and took it off.

The thieves quickly escaped after the theft. According to the driver, the theft happened between around 12:30 am to 1 am during the jam on Shaheed Path. DCP East Amit Kumar confirmed that an FIR was registered on December 1. The police, who arrived at the scene and took toll of the situation, is now interrogating suspected persons. The truck was carrying a total of five tyres, from which one was stolen.

IAF acquires two Mirage 2000 fighter jet

The Indian Air Force received a major boost to its fighter jet fleet as two-second hand Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft have arrived from France at its Gwalior airbase last week. The two aircraft were acquired by the IAF as part of the programme to make up the number of aircraft in the Mirage fighter fleet to around 50. The IAF had recently purchased around 51 Mirages in different batches and they form three squadrons which are all based in the Gwalior Air Force station.

The Mirage upgrade deal between the French and Indian sides was for enhancing the capabilities of 51 aircraft and some of these kits are left due to crashes involving these planes. The Indian Air Force has smartly invested to scout phased out old French aircraft and to upgrade them using technological brilliance, which will help the IAF to maintain them for the next 15 years. The Mirages have been in use since 1980 and were an important part of both the Kargil war to the 2019 Balakot airstrikes where they bombed a Jaish e Mohammed terrorist camp in Pakistan.

Image: PTI