During Operation Sindoor, India launched its BrahMos missiles from Sukhoi-30s and Scalp missiles from Rafale jets against Pakistani targets, “stealing the show“ and forcing Islamabad to wave the "white flag", Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari (retd) said. Things started to get “a little out of hand” when Pakistan targeted India’s military bases using drones and missiles, but a combination of foolproof air defence and counter-strikes ensured New Delhi maintained the upper hand, he added.
While India was prepared for Pakistani retaliation, they chose to strike even hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur. The former IAF chief said the Indian Air Force’s retaliation was hard, as it ensured Pakistan was struck where it "hurt the most".
"We expected some kind of response. The Pakistanis responded by carrying out multiple attacks by using drones and missiles on our military installations and civilian targets and so on. They even targeted hospitals in Udhampur," he said while speaking at an event at IIT Bombay.
On 7 May, India struck nine terror camps deep inside Pak-occupied Kashmir and mainland Pakistan. Among them, the IAF was responsible for striking Bahawalpur and Muridke. It was the first time that India went so deep and struck with absolute pinpoint accuracy, the former IAF chief stressed.
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When Pakistan tried to retaliate by targeting India’s military installations and bases, the integrated air defence systems were able to thwart all the attacks, Chaudhari said. On 9 and 10 May, Pakistan’s primary air bases—the very same from where their UAVs were launched—were struck. This explains the usage that they were hit where it hurt the most.
"We brought down every single drone or missile that was fired at us. No damage was suffered within our country. Now, when they were targeting our bases, this was getting a little out of hand. Once they were hitting our bases, we had to retaliate and go after their bases from where their aircraft and drones became airborne," news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
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“The precision air strikes were achieved through ISR — Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. This, in turn, was obtained through Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), IMINT (Image Intelligence), open-source intelligence, human intelligence, and satellite-based surveillance," he maintained. "So when you put all these together, you get a clear picture of exactly who is hiding where. With the kind of surveillance that is available globally, there are no hiding places," PTI quoted Chaudhari as saying. Operation Sindoor was the result of very bold planning by joint teams of the tri-services, he added.
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The event was also attended by former Navy Chief R. Hari Kumar and ex-Army Chief Manoj Pande.