New Delhi: India unleashed Operation Sindoor in May 2025, to avenge the deadly Pahalgam terror attack.
India’s Armed forces, in well-planned and precisely-coordinated strikes, destroyed nine terror hubs located in Pakistan and PoK on the night of May 7-8 last year.
Pakistan retaliated by threatening to hit cities in India’s north and west with drones and missiles. However, but for limited damage at a few of its airbases, India blunted most of Pakistan’s aerial threats.
It was the Russian-manufactured S-400 air defence system that played a key role in thwarting Pakistan’s threats.
Pakistan was so desperate to locate these S-400 systems that it activated spies and sleeper cells in India during the hostilities which lasted around 90 hours, retired Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra told ANI.
Air Marshal Mishra, who was the chief of Western Air Command during Operation Sindoor, revealed that Pakistan’s fighter jets could not come within 200 km of the Indian border because of the S-400s.
“Pakistanis were desperate to find where these S-400s were. They used every available means. They were also getting satellite help from other nations,” the Air Marshal said.
“Every time they (Pakistan) got airborne, they were shot by an S-400. The S-400 was the biggest threat as far as they were concerned. They also activated spies and sleeper cells within India to find out where the S-400s were located,” Air Marshal Mishra informed.
India’s Sudarshan Chakra
The S-400, known as India’s Sudarshan Chakra, is a surface-to-air missile system that can spot and shoot down aerial threats from far away with advanced radar and interception capabilities.
India and Russia signed an agreement for five S-400 systems in 2018, three of which have been inducted into the IAF. A fourth one was received in June this year.
He said the military was given “operational freedom”, with the direction from the government being to avoid civilian casualties.
“There was not a single restriction. It was left to the military to decide how to fight the war.”
Mishra said matters could have ended after India struck nine terror camps, including those of Jaish and Lashkar, on May 7, but Pakistan chose to escalate.
Pakistan initially launched 14-15 drones targeting Adampur air station. All of them were neutralised by India. However, on May 9, Pakistan launched hundreds of drones and missiles.
One long-range, GPS-guided drone hit a hospital at the air force station and a civilian office located next to it, Mishra said. “I lost one airman, and one person lost his arm. He was amputated. They were medical assistants,” he elaborated.
How Pakistan was ‘blinded’
The Air Marshal said the IAF first dismantled Pakistan’s ability to detect and coordinate its air operations by targeting ground-based radars and command-and-control centres.
“We destroyed all their radars, including American AN/TPS series ones in Punjab. We also got two of their command and control centres. So, they were blinded,” he said.
Pakistani then became increasingly dependent on airborne platforms, or AWACS. An AWACS aircraft was deployed from Sargodha, but it was shot down by an S-400.
“The only way they could see was through an airborne radar. My S-400 operator asked me if he could shoot. I said shoot. And when he shot, we got it at 314 km,” Mishra said.
“India could hit anywhere in Pakistan, and Pakistan could do nothing about it,” Mishra said.
On May 10, India struck 11 military stations, including key bases like Nur Khan and Bholari. Pakistan then looked for a ceasefire.
Women fighter pilots in action
Air Marshal Mishra also revealed that women fighter pilots played a major role in Operation Sindoor, and flew multiple combat missions.
“Women pilots did more than one mission. They struck LeT’s Muridke headquarters, and the same pilots went back and hit airbases and the command and control centres on May 10,” Mishra said.
