Jammu: Operation Sindoor demonstrated the decisive role of air power in modern warfare, with the Army’s Northern Command destroying seven terrorist camps during the 88-hour operation in May 2025, while nearly 12,000 artillery rounds were exchanged along the Line of Control (LoC), Army Commander Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma said on Friday.
Addressing a defence summit in New Delhi, Lt Gen Sharma said Northern Command had been tasked with destroying seven of the nine terrorist camps identified for action and had successfully completed the assignment.
He said the operation involved sustained engagements across multiple domains, with fighting in the air and missile domains coinciding with heavy ceasefire violations and exchanges of fire along the LoC.
“Exchange of artillery fire continued for nearly 88 hours. Almost 12,000 rounds were used. It was a successful execution,” Sharma said, describing the scale of the military engagement during the operation.
The remarks highlighted the intensity of Operation Sindoor, launched in May 2025, and the coordinated demands placed on the armed forces during the confrontation.
At a separate seminar in New Delhi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said Operation Sindoor and ongoing international conflicts had reinforced the centrality of air power in contemporary warfare, stressing that the armed forces must anticipate technological changes rather than respond only after new threats emerge.
Addressing the gathering at the Air Force Auditorium, Singh said rapid technological advances were changing the character of warfare and required military planners to prepare for future operational challenges well in advance.
“The rate at which the technology is changing is bringing change in the character of warfare. If we do not anticipate, if we don’t look at the future, if we just wait for it to happen and then adapt, then it might be too late,” he said.
Referring to Operation Sindoor and ongoing conflicts around the world, the IAF chief said recent military engagements had underlined the importance of air power in achieving decisive outcomes.
“There is no doubt about it because you look at the two contests, the two wars that are going on in the world, or you look at our own experience of last year, Operation Sindoor, that four-day war that proved very clearly that it is the air power which is going to get you decisive victory,” Singh said.
He added that air power would play a major role in future military contests, making technological preparedness and forward-looking operational planning essential for the armed forces.
The two commanders’ remarks underscored different but complementary aspects of Operation Sindoor: the scale of the Army’s engagement along the LoC and the growing importance of air power in determining the course and outcome of modern conflicts.
For the armed forces, the experience has reinforced the need to integrate operational coordination with technological preparedness as the nature of warfare continues to evolve.
