How India destroyed China’s lethal PL-15 missile, Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone during Op Sindoor using…
India-Pakistan tensions: Pakistan launched two of its most lethal foreign-made weapons– Chinese PL-15 missiles, and Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 military during the recent India-Pakistan military conflict, but Islamabad, China, Turkey, and indeed many world nations received a rude awakening when these deadly armament were quickly turned to scrap metal by ‘Akashteer’– India’s homegrown air defense system.
How Akashteer downed every Turkish drone fired by Pakistan
According to Indian armed forces, the Akashteer system shot down every single drone launched by Pakistan—including the much-hyped Bayraktar TB2s, Byker YIHA III kamikaze drones, Songatri and eYatri loitering munitions– with 100 percent accuracy during Operation Sindoor. “Not a single drone reached its target,” Times of India quoted an Indian Air Force officer as saying.
The Akashteer air defense system, developed indigenously by the state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), is hailed by many experts as India’s answer to the Israel’s famous Iron Dome, but the Indian system is considered better suited for low-altitude drone warfare compared to the Israeli AD.
The indigenously-built air defense (AD) system has achieved seamless integration with the Russian-made S-400 Triumf– India’s long-range missile defense system– radars, and weapons systems. The Akash air defense system is capable of automatic detection of aerial threats, and intercepting them in real time.
“Akashteer did not roar or flash, it simply calculated, executed and destroyed. Quiet precision was its loudest weapon,” according to a military official.
As per defense sources, more than 400 Turkish drones were shot down by Akash AD, and their wreckage now litters the areas near the Line of Control (LoC).
End of Erdogan’s drone power ambitions?
The catastrophic failure of Turkish drones, especially the much-touted Bayraktar TB2, is a major setback to the ambitions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of making Turkey a global player in arms exports. “Erdogan can sell anything – religion, weapons or dreams – to enrich his family. But the product is junk now. Baykar stopped innovating the moment it felt safe under government backing,” according to Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute.
Reports claim the mass decimation of Turkey’s drones by India during Operation Sindoor has put Ankara’s drone deals across the globe, from Africa to the Middle East, in jeopardy, and even Pakistan is allegedly mulling to cancel future orders.
Pakistan had fired the Turkish drones in hopes of breaching India’s air defenses, but IAF’s integrated systems, including L70 guns and Akashteer radars, ensured the UAVs never even got close.
PL-15 wreckage now India’s geopolitical prize
Meanwhile, the spectacular burnout of China’s PL-15 air-to-air missile, which crash landed intact inside Indian territory, was a shocking outcome for China as the missile is one of the most advanced in Beijing’s arsenal.
Now, India is proudly flaunting the PL-15 wreckage as a sort of geopolitical prize, even as world powers, including the United States, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, have reportedly lined to study the tech used by the Chinese missile, especially its dual motor.
According to sources, India might have already handed the missile wreckage to to Japan for analysis.
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