New Delhi: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) did shoot down Indian Air Force (IAF) on the night of May 9-10, but they were not fighter jets. According to highly placed defence sources, quoted by ANI, India was at her deceptive best on the night 11 out of 12 key PAF bases were struck by missiles fired from within Indian territory.
India apparently used unmanned aircraft, dummies used for target practice, to deceive Pakistan’s HQ-9 missile-based air defence systems. These dummy aircraft were carefully prepared to match the radar signatures of Rafale and Mig-29 fighter jets.
“The entire set of HQ-9 air defence missile systems got activated as the radars picked up incoming ‘Rafales and Mig-29s’, in what was believed to be the start of a major air strike by the IAF. Pakistan mobilised its entire set of air defence missile system launchers and radars to different points, and some of them were deployed at new locations. However, even as they got ready to take on the dummies, their locations were detected. They were then attacked with HAROP armed drones, resulting in total destruction,” an official said.
India then had a field day or night. She fired at least 15 Brahmos, SCALP, Rampage and Crystal Maze missiles at 11 PAF bases, including the one at Rawalpindi, causing immense damage. These were high-precision strikes and satellite images have revealed that the runways were rendered unusable.
On Friday, Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif conceded for the first time that India struck PAF’s airbases with missiles. He also said that Pakistan’s air defence systems were hit.
India, for obvious reasons, has not officially elaborated on the tactics used. India’s Director General Air Operations (DGAO) Air Marshal A K Bharti neither confirmed, nor denied the loss of Rafale aircraft during Operation Sindoor in the official briefing. All that he said was that all IAF pilots are back home safe.
Though Pakistan had massed troops close to the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LOC), it gave up all plans for a ground attack on realising that there would be no air cover. And as leading Pakistani journalist Moeed Pirzada has pointed out, India would have carried out relentless missile strikes on the PAF’s assets, rendering the force useless over the next 48 hours.
