Wheels roll was at 0630h and their escort Mirages from Ambala joined up with them about 300 km from the target. The RV had been selected well away from the border to remain outside the enemy radar cover, and as before, was uneventful. They maintained R/T silence and meticulously went over the attack drill to ensure all their EW systems and weapons were up and ready. The passage of the magnificent scenery around and below them was barely noticed. They were on the alert, checking their systems time and again, all perked up to go.
Tiger Hill was spotted again from about 50 km away in the Litening Pod and they were thrilled to see a totally cloudless sky. Things then moved forward at a rapid pace. Nambi had altered heading to place the aircraft track directly at a set of seven Arctic tents perched precariously on the South face of Tiger Hill. The white tents made good camouflage sense in winter, but in summer, with most of the snow melted away, they stood out in stark contrast against the black rock formations.
Tiger Hill is at an altitude of 16,600 ft, and the pre-briefed altitude for the attack was 28,000 ft, to which they quickly descended. A glance at the INU indicated that the winds at this altitude was 70 kts (~130 kph) in a westerly direction and at 90° to their planned track. This was excessive and well outside the release envelope of the LGB.
Going up was not an option as the Laser was known to switch off automatically at around 30,000 ft. A different direction was also not viable as the target would be shadowed. A quick decision was taken to descend to 26,000 ft, placing them well within the envelope of shoulder fired SAMs. The crosswinds, however, were more tolerable at 50 kts(~93 kph) and just within the limit of the LGB delivery envelope. They had their regulation IR flares onboard and considered going down into the shoulder fired SAMs' operational envelope an operational risk which they were willing to take. Inter-cockpit understanding was excellent and Monish knew exactly what to do.
At 28 km, Nambi pulsed the laser to designate the target for the first time. The Litening Pod instantly ranged the distance to target. They had by then accelerated to a ground speed of 550 kts(~1000 kmph) and the distance to the release point rapidly reduced. Nambi repeatedly re-designated the target as it became more discernible when they closed in. At the release range, he depressed the trigger and felt the aircraft jerk upwards as it suddenly shed 600 kg of load. He immediately commenced a hard turn to the left at 4G and stated dropping flares. Monish took over pod steering and pointed the laser directly at the target while he concentrated on flying a steady 4G turn and monitored the video image. The Laser was steadily flashing and they waited anxiously for the target to explode, signalling a successful delivery. The time of flight of an LGB, under the delivery conditions that Nambi had dropped it in, was under 30 sec, but to the two pilots in their cockpits, it seemed an eternity. Their joy knew no bounds as the video image of the target showed it to burst out into a wide and soundless explosion.
Nambi had by then rolled out on a westerly course and reversed right climbing back to 30,000 ft and checked the air distance with the other strike aircraft. The plan was to gather together and then set course for Pt 4388. He noticed that the distance between the two of them had started to build up as they turned towards the North West. Their escorts from 1 Squadron were, however, with them so they decided to press on with the mission. A quick R/T call to check fuel and intention revealed that the other members had already set course back to base. They continued and scanned Pt 4388 for targets. On return, 15 min later, they routed back via Tiger Hill to film the Hill from as close as possible to assess the damage they had caused. The target area had been blown to smithereens, so they filmed the rest of the hill for any other visible signs of the enemy. They had sufficient fuel so they accelerated to their limit speed to get back to Base by 0800h.
After landing they extracted the video tape from the Litening Pod and headed to the crew room for the debrief. The entire squadron was gathered around the TV as the tape was rewound and played back. Loud cheers and back thumping erupted in ecstasy, as, clearly visible on the tape, four enemy soldiers were rushing across the screen a few seconds before the bomb got to them and the huge explosion. Nobody present there could have survived. The video on the way back also revealed a person 2,000 ft below the hill top, climbing painstakingly upward to the camp. The ongoing retreat of the Pakistani soldiers and mujahideen picked up expressly after this and other deadly LGB attacks.