As India thwarts Pakistani attack, here’s how multi-layered Indian defence worked to stop the wave of missiles and drones sent by Pakistan to target Indian cities
On the intervening night of 8th and 9th May, Pakistan launched a coordinated attack involving a wave of drones and other munitions targeting 15 locations across northern and western India, including Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Bathinda, and Chandigarh. To thwart the wave of Pakistani missiles and drones, India activated its multi-layered air-defence system, including Akashteer ADCRS, S-400 Sudarshan Chakra, Barak 8 MRSAM (Medium Range Surface to Air Missile) and Akash Missile System.
India deployed its “Iron Dome” to destroy Pakistani drones and missiles
In response to Pakistani strikes, Indian armed forces activated the indigenously made Akashteer Air Defence System to intercept and destroy a wave of Pakistani missiles and drones. Dubbed as India’s Iron Dome, the made-in-India Akashteer ADS is a command-and-control air defence platform.
This air defence system integrates inputs from radar sources like early-warning systems and ground-based radars to render a live web of real-time data to precisely track aerial threats. With the Akashteer system’s help, Indian forces intercepted and neutralised each and every missile launched by Pakistan towards India.
During the Pakistani attack on 8th May night, Akashteer fused data from Indian Air Force and Indian Army Air Defence, such as 3D tactical radars and low-level lightweight radars, to detect and track incoming Pakistani missiles and drones. Akashteer effectively coordinated the response across multiple layers of defence to ensure seamless communication and targeting of enemy weapons.
S-400 missile defence system and HARPY drones complemented Akashteer perfectly
Besides Akashteer, the Indian Air Force used a combination of the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system to intercept and Israeli-made HARPY drones for counterattack against Pakistani missiles and drones.
Hours later, when air-raid sirens sounded across cities in the bordering states of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Punjab during a second wave of Pakistani strikes, the Indian air defence repulsed the attack and shot down two Pakistani fighter jets, including a US-made supersonic F-16. These Pakistani warplanes were hit by a surface-to-air missile shortly after take-off from the Sargodha base.
Reports say that the Indian Air Force used a combination of anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles along with an integrated counter-UAS grid to take down Pakistani projectiles. The integrated counter-UAS grid was used to counter unmanned aircraft systems and neutralise drones and other incoming threats like missiles launched by Pakistan. This grid utilises multiple technologies, including radar and radio frequency sensors, to locate, identify, and track potential airspace threats. Once a threat is detected, the system can deploy various non-explosive countermeasures, like jamming radio signals and explosive countermeasures like firing an interceptor projectile. India used C-UAS against Pakistan in the last two attacks.
The other layer of India’s impregnable air defence system is S-400. This Russian-made missile defence system can track incoming threats from 600 km away and intercept threats within a 400 km range, making it one of the best in the business. S-400 comprises three components: a powerful radar for 360-degree tracking, missiles to intercept, and a command centre. The S-400 missile defence system is capable of engaging almost any modern warplane.
India signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to buy five squadrons in October 2018. It is essential to recall that when the Modi government decided to purchase the S-400 defence system, it faced significant criticism from the United States. Three years prior, the Western power had declared that it was “discouraging” India from moving forward with procuring S-400s from Russia. India’s acquisition of the S-400 was met with resistance from the earlier administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Despite threats of sanctions, the Modi government prioritised the importance of the S-400 in improving Indian air defences against China and Pakistan and went ahead with the deal. It is because the Modi government remained undeterred despite international and domestic pressure that today Indian forces have a formidable missile defence system, thwarting Pakistani threats.
The other layer in India’s air defence system is a short-range, surface-to-air defence system—SAMAR. This was used last night to deflect and intercept Pakistani missiles. SAMAR uses Russian Vympel missiles and has a range of 12 km, meaning it can take on low-flying aerial targets like drones. In addition, India also uses the Spyder system, an Israeli low-level quick-reaction anti-aircraft missile with a 15 km range. Indian forces also reportedly used Soviet-made twin-barrel 23 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun Zu-23, Swedish-made and Indian upgraded 40 mm anti-aircraft gun L-70, and self-propelled anti-aircraft gun Shilka to counter Pakistani attacks.
Besides, our forces also used Akash, an indigenous short-medium range ADS effective within a 50 km range. India, however, has a plethora of options to tackle any misadventure of Pakistan, including S-125 Pechora (surface-to-air missiles) and VSHORAD, or very short-range air defence. VSHORAD can be launched from the shoulder or carried on tripods.
Synergy of India’s air defence systems makes it unmatchable
The cost-effective, interoperability, multi-layered defence, and real-time coordination between India’s air defence systems offered the country an edge over the enemy, helping it essentially destroy over 8 missiles with no impact on Indian soil. More than two dozen drones and loitering munitions were neutralised through a perfect combination of kinetic—Akash, MRSAM, Zu-23 —and non-kinetic—jamming and spoofing methods. The multiple interceptions were confirmed as debri from various locations has been recovered. Reports are also emerging that two to three Pakistani fighter jets were also shot down.
Most importantly, in what stands as the testament of the effectiveness of India’s air defence systems, there were no casualties or significant damages despite Pakistan’s aggressive and desperate attack to secure a PR win against India to fool its brainwashed public. The countermeasures taken by India against Pakistani strikes on the night of 8th May demonstrated India’s advanced, layered capabilities as well as its ability to counter complex and multi-vector threats effectively destroying the nefarious designs and motivations of the enemy.
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