New Delhi: India Wednesday said that its air force had on 7 May bypassed and jammed Pakistan’s China-supplied air defence systems, a reference to the HQ-9, completing the mission to strike terror hubs in just 23 minutes.
India’s offensive strikes, in response to the Pakistan military’s attack, targeted key Pakistani airbases Nur Khan and Rahimyar Khan with surgical precision.
“Loitering munitions were used to devastating effect, each finding and destroying high-value targets, including enemy radar and missile systems,” a research note put out by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) stated. It made a distinction between what was used to hit the airbases and what was used for taking out other military targets.
“All strikes were executed without loss of Indian assets, underscoring the effectiveness of our surveillance, planning, and delivery systems. The use of modern indigenous technology, from long-range drones to guided munitions, made these strikes highly effective and politically calibrated,” it said in what is seen as a reference to the strikes post 7 May.
‘Concrete evidence’ of neutralised threats
“Operation Sindoor also produced concrete evidence of hostile technologies neutralised by Indian systems,” read a statement put out by the PIB, which added that these were pieces of PL-15 missiles (of Chinese origin), Turkish-origin UAVs, “named ‘Yiha’ or ‘YEEHAW’”, and long-range rockets, quadcopters and commercial drones.
“These were recovered and identified, showing that despite Pakistan’s attempts to exploit advanced foreign-supplied weaponry, India’s indigenous air defence and electronic warfare networks remained superior,” it said.
Talking about Operation Sindoor, the statement that without crossing the Line of Control or international boundary, Indian forces struck terrorist infrastructure and eliminated multiple threats. “However, beyond tactical brilliance, what stood out was the seamless integration of indigenous hi-tech systems into national defence. Whether in drone warfare, layered air defence, or electronic warfare, Operation Sindoor marks a milestone in India’s journey towards technological self-reliance in military operations,” it said.
It further said that on 7 May night, 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. These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Grid and Air Defence systems.
On 8 May morning, the armed forces targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. An air defence system at Lahore was neutralised
The statement said that as part of Operation Sindoor, India had used battle-proven AD (air defence) systems like the Pechora, OSA-AK and LLAD guns (low-level air defence guns) besides indigenous systems such as the Akash.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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