From being launched in the dead of the night to avenge the killings of 26 innocent tourists brutally shot dead by Pakistan sponsored terrorists, to become the ‘new normal of India’, Operation Sindoor has shown the country’s flex in terms of its air defence capabilities.

Bypassing and jamming Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems, the Indian Air Force completed the mission in barely 23 minutes, before returning safely to its base. India’s offensive strikes targeted key Pakistani airbases – Noor Khan and Rahimyar Khan with surgical precision.

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Loitering munitions were used to devastating effect, each finding and destroying high-value targets, including enemy radar and missile systems.

On the intervening night of May 6-7 Indian defence forces targeted nine terror breeding hubs, located in both Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Hours after that, Pakistan, while siding with terror, retaliated by targeting India’s military and civilian infrastructure in a series of attacks, both on land and in the air.

Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. ‘

However, the attempts were rendered futile by the Integrated Counter UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Grid and Air Defence systems, which stood the test of time by detecting, tracking, and neutralising threats using a network of radars, control centres, artillery, and both aircraft and ground-based missiles.

India, answered back by targeted the Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan, including Lahore where an Air Defence system was neutralised.

Operation Sindoor saw battle-proven AD (Air Defence) systems like the Pechora, OSA-AK and LLAD guns (Low-level air defence guns), and indigenous systems such as the Akash, which demonstrated stellar performance, in action.

Akash, a Short Range Surface to Air Missile system to protect vulnerable areas and vulnerable points from air attacks, simultaneously engaged Multiple Targets in Group Mode or Autonomous Mode.

Combining assets from the Army, Navy, and primarily the Air Force, India’s air defence systems performed with exceptional synergy, creating an impenetrable wall, foiling multiple attempts by Pakistan to retaliate.

The Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) of the Indian Air Force brought all these elements together, providing the net-centric operational capability vital for modern warfare.

Operation Sindoor also produced concrete evidence of hostile technologies neutralized by Indian systems, including pieces of PL-15 missiles (of Chinese origin), Turkish-origin UAVs, named “Yiha” or “YEEHAW”, and long-range rockets, quadcopters and commercial drones.

Further, the Indian Space Research Organisation too contributed largely to the Operation. Following the ceasefire between the two countries, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan mentioned that at least 10 satellites are continuously working round-the-clock for the strategic purpose to ensure the safety and security of the citizens of the country.

“To ensure the safety of the country, the nation has to serve through its satellites. It has to monitor its 7,000 km seashore areas. It has to monitor the entire Northern part continuously. Without satellite and drone technology, the country can’t achieve that,” he had stated.