When India and Pakistan went to war in the Himalayas in the summer of 1999, Israel had only recently established full diplomatic relations with New Delhi and the two countries' defense relationship was still in its infancy.
Now, more than a quarter-century later, two Israelis who helped integrate advanced targeting systems onto Indian fighter jets are revealing new details about the emergency effort they say helped transform India's air campaign during the Kargil War—and cemented what has since become one of Israel's closest strategic partnerships.
Speaking to India's NDTV on Monday, former Rafael program manager Ami and retired Israeli Air Force fighter pilot Shlomo, both men identified only by their first names, described how an urgent call from Israel's defense attaché set off a frantic operation to send engineers and equipment to India after fighting broke out in the disputed Himalayan region.
"It was a phone call that did not come from New Delhi," Ami recalled. "It came from Tel Aviv."
The call arrived on a Friday night, as Israel was entering Shabbat.
"On Sunday morning people who didn't imagine on Friday that they would board an aircraft were already on their way to India with boxes, tools and test equipment," he said. "Everyone supported this effort. Nobody asked questions. We have a friend in need."
The Himalayas in northern India
(Photo: Shutterstock)
The Kargil War erupted after Pakistani forces and armed militants occupied strategic mountain positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir region. Fighting at altitudes exceeding 15,000 feet presented unique challenges for the Indian Air Force, whose aircraft initially struggled to accurately strike entrenched positions.
'A game changer'
According to the two Israelis, India had already been working with Rafael since 1996 to integrate the Israeli-made Litening targeting pod onto its French-built Mirage 2000 fighter jets. The system enables pilots to identify and laser-designate targets for precision-guided bombs.
An Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet takes part in the Blue Flag 2021 multinational air exercise at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: AFP)
Shlomo described the complexity of making the system work under combat conditions.
"We came with an Israeli pod, the Litening, and we integrated it into the Mirage 2000. This French aircraft speaks French. The laser-guided bombs are American; they speak English. Our pods speak Hebrew," he said.
He said engineers spent weeks solving technical problems before the system could be trusted in combat.
"It takes a very long time. It's almost impossible," he said.
Both men credited Indian Air Force crews with pushing the technology beyond what even its developers had anticipated.
Shlomo singled out then-commanders Nambiar and Tiwari, saying their precision strikes against Pakistani positions overlooking Tiger Hill fundamentally changed India's air campaign.
"Before that, without the targeting pod, I would say that if you hit the target within 20 or 30 meters, it made noise, but not more than that," he said. "With laser-guided bombs, you can hit within two or three meters from the target. It is a world changer. It is the game changer."
He added that the pilots conducted missions from altitudes the Israeli team had never expected.
"We never tried it before," he said.
More than business
Ami emphasized that the cooperation had begun years before the war, with dozens of visits to India as Rafael engineers worked alongside Indian Air Force personnel to integrate the system.
He estimated that he traveled to India roughly 100 times between 1996 and 2004, about half of those before the Kargil War.
What began as a defense contract evolved into something deeper, he said.
"This is friendship. This is profound friendship. This is something, I think, that goes way beyond the commercial aspects. It is a brotherhood. Very important to consider and know that whatever we did, we did not only for the commercial ties."
Today, Israel is one of India's leading defense suppliers, providing air defense systems, missiles, drones, electronic warfare capabilities and intelligence technology. What began as an urgent wartime collaboration has evolved into one of Israel's most strategically important partnerships in Asia, with the two countries increasingly shifting from a traditional buyer-seller relationship toward joint research, development and production of advanced defense systems.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS)
The relationship has been driven in large part by the personal rapport between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi made history in 2017 as the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, breaking with decades of diplomatic caution, while Netanyahu traveled to India the following year.
Their latest meeting came in February, when Modi returned to Israel for a two-day state visit, during which the two leaders elevated bilateral ties to what they called a "Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, Innovation and Prosperity," with defense, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and emerging technologies at the center of the agenda.