India's 'We Control Our Skies' Message After Shooting Down Pak Missiles
India is in control of its airspace which is protected by an advanced air defence network 'capable of detecting, jamming, and eliminating threats before they breach' - this is the unequivocal message to Pakistan and hostile non-state actors, sources told NDTV Friday.
The message came after the Air Force repulsed two waves of drone and missile attacks by Pak targeting Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Punjab.
The first began late May 7 night (hours after India's Operation Sindoor eliminated nine terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir) and rolled over into the early hours of May 8.
Military facilities in or near 15 Indian cities were targeted. But a combination of air defences, including the integrated counter-unmanned aerial system, or C-UAS, network intercepted the missiles, and Israeli-made HARPY drones counterattacked by disabling Pak's air defences.
The second wave was launched hours later.
But, once again, Indian air defences - this time using the indigenously developed Akash missile defence system, which is comparable to Israel's 'Iron Dome' - repulsed the attack.
READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles, Drones
The authority with which these missile and drone attacks were put down was underlined by the fact that not a single Pak projectile hit its target; every single one was intercepted or neutralised, thanks to the government's rapid and coordinated response system, sources told NDTV.
The fact that India also managed to counterattack and destroy Pak air defence systems, potentially leaving the vulnerable to another aerial offensive, was also reiterated.
A China-supplied HQ-9 air defence unit in Lahore was disabled amid Pak's first wave.
India's air defence system includes the Russian-made S-400 that is widely considered to be among the best in the world. The Narendra Modi government ordered five of these from Russia in 2018 at a cost of Rs 35,000 crore; three have been delivered, two more are due by 2026.
The three delivered systems are now operational along the Pak and China borders.
India currently has three squadrons of the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system (File).
The air defence system also includes the homemade Akash missiles and drone-counter technology; the former has been compared to Israel's powerful 'Iron Dome' system that protected Tel Aviv from a barrage of Hamas and Hezbollah rockets in the war in West Asia.
The government also pointed to precision strikes on nine terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir - codenamed Operation Sindoor, India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack, execution of which was supported by the Pak deep state - as further examples of its prowess.
Twenty-four missiles - including the SCALP long-range missile and the HAMMER smart bomb - were released in Operation Sindoor in a 25-minute window.
READ | How India Used HAMMER, SCALP To Hit Terror Camps In Op Sindoor
Operation Sindoor also saw the use of 'loitering munitions', which are precision explosions that can hover over a area, confirm its target, and then deliver its payload.
READ | What Is Loitering Munition That India Used Against Pak In Op Sindoor
Sources told NDTV the effective defence of enemy missiles and drones, and the accuracy with which India delivered its own projectiles, means the country has emerged as being 'not just capable of defending its skies... it now controls them'.
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