According to local media, the Indian Air Force is looking to acquire an advanced version of the SPICE-2000 bombs from Israel to strengthen its arsenal.

SPICE stands for ‘smart, precise-impact and cost-effective’ and is manufactured by the Israeli defence technology company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

“The Air Force is looking to buy an advanced version of the SPICE-2000 bombs which can destroy bunkers,” sources told India Today TV.

The bombs acquired would be able to destroy buildings using the explosive warhead. The earlier version was capable of penetrating and then bursting inside buildings. The penetration warheads, SPICE-2000s, were used by the Indian Air Force in Balakot airstrikes, during which Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) terrorists hiding inside the building were killed.

The bombs created holes and then entered the terrorists hideout where intelligence agencies had estimated that close to 300 Jaish cadres were hiding one day before the airstrike, which took place in the early hours of 26 February. The airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot were conducted days after JeM carried out a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama.

The Indian Air Force is also planning to equip the fleet of its Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft with the SPICE-2000 bombs to give them more teeth during aerial conflicts with enemy forces.