The North News
New Delhi, May 15
In a decisive 23-minute air campaign, Indian forces neutralised strategic Pakistani military installations, including radar and air defence systems at Noor Khan and Rahimyar Khan airbases, according to senior defence officials. What distinguished Operation Sindoor from past engagements, however, was India’s deployment of indigenous loitering munitions—lethal “kamikaze drones”—and precision-guided strike systems that successfully eliminated high-value enemy assets, including Chinese-supplied PL-15 missiles and Turkish-origin UAVs, without crossing international borders.
In the early hours of May 8, India launched a targeted and technologically sophisticated military operation deep into Pakistani territory—without crossing the Line of Control. Known as Operation Sindoor, the mission showcased India’s rising defence self-reliance and its integrated combat readiness across all three services. This was in response to the terrorist attack on civilians in Pahalgam,
This was the first confirmed engagement where Indian electronic warfare teams successfully jammed and bypassed Pakistan’s air defence grid, reportedly modelled and supplied by China. “Our systems penetrated their airspace, delivered strikes with zero losses, and returned without detection,” said one senior air force official on condition of anonymity. “The message was clear: our capabilities are not theoretical anymore.”
India’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) played a pivotal role in the operation, coordinating Army, Navy, and Air Force assets in real-time using net-centric architecture. This fusion enabled a seamless and multi-layered approach—where legacy systems like Pechora and OSA-AK guns operated alongside indigenously built Akash missile batteries and Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS).
On the night following the strikes, Pakistan attempted a limited retaliatory response, targeting 17 Indian cities and military installations—including Jammu, Ludhiana, Bhuj and Amritsar—using drones and missile barrages. However, India’s air defence shield, built over a decade with sustained domestic investment, held firm and neutralise all attack.
Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, Director General of Military Operations, described the layered defence model as “textbook in design and wartime effective,” crediting systems such as shoulder-fired weapons, anti-drone jammers, and the mobile Akash units for neutralising incoming threats without loss of civilian or military assets.
Recovered debris from thwarted attacks included Turkish-manufactured “Yiha” UAVs and quadcopters rigged for combat. “Despite leveraging foreign-supplied systems, Pakistan failed to breach our domestic defence network,” a Ministry of Defence briefing stated.
India’s refusal to cross into Pakistani airspace while still achieving its military aims has been interpreted by analysts as a sign of “mature deterrence”—a doctrine that emphasises targeted precision without international escalation. The strikes, calibrated for maximum impact with minimal provocation, received quiet nods from major global capitals, though official endorsements were withheld.
The larger message, however, was meant for both Islamabad and New Delhi’s own citizens. “We responded not based on the enemy’s religion,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said during a public address in Srinagar on May 15, “but on their karma.” His remarks, both philosophical and pointed, underlined India’s shifting posture: restraint is no longer mistaken for weakness.
The Ministry has since clarified that Operation Sindoor is not a one-off campaign but part of a broader transformation within India’s strategic thinking—prioritising asymmetrical superiority through technology, integration, and rapid strike capabilities. The country’s indigenous defence push, often criticised for slow progress, now appears to be bearing fruit on the battlefield.
As India moves closer to a net-centric warfighting doctrine, Operation Sindoor may well be remembered as the moment the country’s military-industrial complex came of age—under fire, but in control.
