The Indian military on Thursday used a mix of Russia and Israel made weapons, and locally produced systems, to destroy missiles and drones fired by Pakistan at army and Indian Air Force bases.
The Pakistani attack unfolded in two waves, one in the intervening night of May 7 and 8, and the other on the evening of May 8.
The first wave of attacks targeted 15 cities in the country’s north and west, and the second, Jammu, other parts of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, and border districts in Punjab and Rajasthan. India responded to the first wave with a counterattack on military targets in the neighbouring country, including Lahore, officials aware of the matter said.
It was also expected that it would respond to the second wave later on May 8, or early on May 9.
The Pakistani attempt to strike Indian military bases and installations was defeated.
Indian forces used the Russian-origin S-400 Triumf air defence system, locally made Akash surface-to-air missiles, a variety of anti-drone systems and other counter-measures to defeat the incoming threats that were swiftly engaged after being detected and tracked by an integrated network of radars and, command and control systems, the officials said, asking not to be named.
Loitering ammunitions, including Harop bought from Israel, were deployed to target air defence networks in Pakistan, the people said. The Harop is a kamikaze drone or suicide drone.
India ordered five units of the S-400 missile systems from Russia for ₹39,000 crore in October 2018. The S-400 can destroy a variety of aerial threats, including enemy fighter jets, missiles and unmanned aerial systems, at a range of up to 400km. Three batteries have been inducted and deployed, but the remaining two are delayed at a time when Russia is caught in a lingering conflict with Ukraine.
Late on Thursday, there were unconfirmed reports of the system downing a Pakistani F-16 jet.
The formidable air defence system, a significant capability upgrade for the IAF, has integrated radars, command and control centre and missiles that allow it to detect, track and engage targets at various height and range bands.
The Akash surface-to-air missile system, capable of intercepting high manoeuvring low radar cross-section aerial targets, was deployed to neutralise the incoming threats too.
The Pakistani missiles and drones were neutralised by the integrated counter-UAS (unmanned aerial system) grid and air defence systems, the defence ministry said, referring to the first wave. The grid and systems refer to a well-integrated network of anti-air weapons, sensors, radars and soft-kill measures to defeat incoming threats.
The debris of Pakistani weapons has been recovered from several locations.
The Harop was used on Thursday morning by the Indian forces to target air defence radars and systems at several location in Pakistan. The kamikaze drone, which has an endurance of several hours, can be used against high-value targets including air defence systems, command posts, ammunition dumps and supply depots.
“The Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an air defence system at Lahore has been neutralised,” the ministry added.
Pakistan’s bid to escalate was negated and drew a proportionate response, it said.
The cities targeted by Pakistan on May 7 night included Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj. Fighter jets, military transport aircraft, and many military facilities and headquarters are based in the cities that the Pakistan military sought to target, in a brazen night-long attempt to escalate tensions.
The Indian military on Wednesday launched Operation Sindoor and carried out precision strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) using niche technology weapons with careful selection of warheads that ensured there was no collateral damage.
The ongoing operation is India’s direct military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike that killed 26 people, all men, 24 of whom were Hindus.
The weapons deployed to hit the nine terror sites included Scalp deep-strike cruise missiles that allow Rafale fighter pilots to attack ground targets from standoff ranges, the Hammer smart weapon system, guided bomb kits and M777 howitzers firing Excalibur munition. Kamikaze drones were also used strike the targets.