Lessons for the Military

Maj. Gen. Atanu Pattanaik (retd)

The Pahalgam massacre was a dare to test the resolve of India. Operation Sindoor answered that dare and at the same time, demonstrated a characteristic restraint that behoves a mature old civilisation. The terrorists had a clear agenda and a well-rehearsed plan of execution. Men were pulled aside, asked to recite the kalima and double checked by forcing them to pull their pants down for positive verification before being shot in cold blood in front of their wives and children. “Go, tell Modi,” said one of the terrorists after shooting a man dead in front of his wife.

The armed forces were given full freedom to plan the operation, select their targets and decide on the methodology of delivery. The final go ahead for Operation Sindoor was given after keeping key global allies like the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the loop. The operation was focussed, measured and non-escalatory, not targeting any Pakistani military facility on the first night of May 7-8, but the full spectrum of the major terrorist outfits including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen.

There were five targets in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and four in Pakistan, the closest (Sarjal Camp opposite Samba-Kathua) about 8 km from the Line of Control (LC) and the deepest (Bahawalpur) a 100 km from the international border (IB), both housing the JeM. No Indian aircraft crossed the LC or the IB.

A package of long-range cruise missiles like the SCALP, precision glide bombs like HAMMER and loitering munitions or kamikaze drones like SkyStriker were used based on the distance and nature of the targets. All intended targets were precisely hit, overcoming any Pakistani air defences. It demonstrated a capability to the world that was hitherto a preserve of the US and Israel. The objectives were clear, re-establish deterrence that was effected after the Balakot strike which had got diluted with passage of time and change of command in the Pakistani Army, assure the domestic audience and deliver an international messaging. The operation was designed to be clearly viewed as a pure anti-terror operation as a right to respond to a terror attack as per UN conventions.

The conflict quickly escalated as was expected. Pakistan retaliated with a wave of airstrikes, focusing on cities and military bases across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, starting around 8:30 pm on May 8-9. Strategic military targets in Jammu, Pathankot, Poonch, Udhampur, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Bathinda were targeted with drones and rockets which were effectively neutralised by our robust air defence system, the full array of S-400s (400 kms range), Barak (75 km), Akash (25 km), Spyker (15 km) and Igla-S (6 km) apart from the quintessential L-70 guns. The Indian Army launched a potent retaliation, decimating several Pakistani military posts situated along the LC. Precision strikes, including the use of anti-tank guided missiles, were employed to dismantle enemy positions.

Heavy exchange of artillery shelling caused loss of lives and property in border towns. In retaliation, India struck Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi to destroy Pakistan’s air defence systems, radars and AWACS. Indian Navy anchored off the Karachi Port posing a potent threat. Summarising the four-days conflict, it is evident that while Indian missiles and drones were able to hit their targets overcoming Pakistani air defences, Pakistani retaliations by barrages of drones and missiles were effectively neutered by own air defence systems.

One big military lesson is deducted from this outcome, layered and home-grown air defence is vital to defend our skies in the emerging battlefield where drones and missiles have near complete dominance over all the other weapons systems and platforms such as attack helicopters and tanks.The strategic dimension of space that support coordinate forces beyond line-of-sight, target and track integrated air defence systems (IADS) and use of space-based navigation for precision strikes and to anticipate incoming missiles has been hugely amplified. Hence, India must boost her space-based sensor and guidance matrix with far greater deployment of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations and enhance investment in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in order to overcome the risks of using foreign navigational systems such as the US-owned GPS.

The demonstration of operational finesse the Indian armed forces in delivering a lethal blow to the nuclear command nerve centre in Nur Khan airbase near Rawalpindi is unparalleled. No other nuclear power has delivered such a decisive blow to another nuclear power with such devastating effect, resetting the red lines and nuclear thresholds. The operation has signalled the arrival