I am not getting into operational details of Operation Sindoor as my esteemed colleagues have well defined how we did what we did and within 90 hours or so, the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) called his counterpart, the Indian Army’s DGMO, requesting to call off strikes on his country.
The Indian Air Force, Army and Navy were actually ready to meet any challenge but the Government had authorized strikes only on the so-called terrorists, trained by ISI and operating from their camps in a mix of fanatics and Pakistani officers and soldiers as their handlers and group leaders.
The DGMO-to-DGMO channel is an authorized bilateral arrangement, to clear any doubts and misunderstandings. This arrangement rules out third party intervention and resultant mess.
Notably, neither IAF nor PAF crossed the borders, but fired missiles from 200 to 300 or more kms away. It was a high tech war, involving EW (Electronic Warfare) systems, drones and long range missiles, and India’s home-built BrahMos missiles and the Russian S 400 Triumf long range Surface-to-Air defence system. The BrahMos, built on Russian-supplied technology, and S 400 did wonderful jobs with one Pakistani minister saying the ‘Barhmoos’ – as he pronounced it – hit Pakistani airbases one after the other.
IAF’s Rafales conducted precision strikes, and in one case, as reported by the Pakistani media, one missile struck a heavily fortified airbase, which possibly had nuclear weapons, through its rather small 75-cm air vents.
Rafale is the only modern fighter, multi role, with the Indian Air Force. All others belong to the Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao era. For instance, Mig 21 is going to be retired this year after an active service of 60 years. Mig 23, Mig 25, Mig 27, are already gone, and Mig 29, acquired by Rajiv Gandhi, is next in line. The Ango-French Jaguars are also gone, though the French Mirage 2000 is still there with upgrades.
How come IAF doesn’t have modern aircraft?
In 1986, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Government bought Swedish Bofors Artillery Guns after procedural trials by the Army. VP Singh, his minister, made three false allegations: There was bribe in the deal; The gun was of poor quality and fired backwards; and It killed own troops. Astounding! Nonetheless, the media went crazy and propelled him to his dream office of Prime Minister.
His machinations cast a curse on the modernization process of the Indian Armed Forces. Every time, the Ministry of Defence wants to buy something, allegations erupt from nowhere. IAF is a glaring example of this curse: the only fighter jets capable of intrusive missions are the 36 Rafales the Modi Government bought in 2016 (delivered in 2020) on ‘emergency’ basis.
It’s time the Government went jet speed in military modernization. IAF needs at least 300 modern aircraft, or 40 % of its sanctioned strength. And advanced Drones. Go For Them. Please.
— Gulshan Rai Luthra
