New Delhi: The Indian Air Force’s calibrated strikes across the Western front during Operation Sindoor — spanning 1,200 km in breadth and 200 km in depth — demonstrated that no target is beyond its reach, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said on Sunday, in an apparent warning to Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview with PTI, the Chief of Air Staff described the operation as a validation of the IAF’s capability-centric approach, but at the same time said that it must not be a reason to “stand still” as the way forward is to deepen and widen the overall capability of the force to deal with future security challenges.
He also reaffirmed air power’s decisive role as the nation’s primary responder and its strategic deterrent.
“Operationally, one lesson stands out: we must always retain multiple options and the ability to adapt rapidly as the adversary changes tactics,” the Chief of Air Staff who oversaw the four-day operation said.
“A capability-centric force is inherently better at this, because it can draw on many tools rather than depend on one. That same flexibility allowed us to calibrate our response and keep control of escalation.”
Launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor saw India carry out precision air strikes on nine terror infrastructures, including the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) headquarters at Bahawalpur and the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base at Muridke, in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
It marked the most daring cross-border military action by India since the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
“Operation Sindoor proved that the path we have chosen is the right one. We will continue along it with even greater resolve, so that if the nation calls upon us again, the IAF responds more swiftly, more precisely and more decisively, on the nation’s terms,” he said.
The Chief of the Air Staff also noted that some of the indigenously developed weapon systems performed “exceptionally”, delivering crippling blows deep into enemy territory, and that the IAF honoured its commitment to “zero collateral damage” throughout the operation.
“Operation Sindoor was, above all, a validation of the capability-centric approach the IAF has been pursuing. We have moved from thinking in terms of individual platforms to thinking in terms of capability, where every aircraft, sensor, weapon and network is integrated so that the combined effect is far greater than the sum of the parts,” the IAF Chief said.
“The operation put that philosophy to the test in real operations, and it delivered. It reaffirmed the decisive role of air power as both the nation’s primary responder and its strategic deterrent, and it reinforced the enduring importance of speed, precision, integration and adaptability,” he said.
The Air Chief Marshal was responding to a question on the IAF’s key takeaways from Operation Sindoor across operational tactics, strategic options, setbacks and firepower.
The operation’s success did not come from any single weapon or platform. It came from the combined effect of accurate intelligence, networked operations, stand-off and precision weapons, electronic warfare, layered air defence and counter-UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) capabilities, all working as one system, he said.
