Op Sindoor: IAF took ‘23 mins’ to jam Pak’s China-made defence systems, complete mission

New information has emerged of India's heroics during Operation Sindoor, regarding the disabling of Pakistan's Chinese-developed air defence systems before the Indian counter-strike, which allowed for maximum terrorist casualty.

In the statement given by the government to questions on how India's drones and missiles were so successful, it was revealed that the Chinese air-defence systems given to Pakistan and set up across all along its border and the Line of Control (LoC) were jammed, allowing the attack to be completed in "just 23 minutes".

Chinese defence systems neutralized

The Chinese-origin air defence systems used by the Pakistan military, which were disabled, reportedly included the HQ-9, HQ-12 and HQ-16 missiles, among others. The HQ-9 is a long-range semi-active radar homing (SARH) surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed by the Chinese military for air defence, and was sold and entered into Pakistani services in early 2021.

The HQ-9 system is designed to intercept aircraft, cruise missiles, UAVs, and tactical ballistic missiles. It has a range of 120 km in its base variant, extending up to 300 km in the HQ-9B, and can target objects at altitudes of up to 50 km. With semi-active radar homing, multi-target tracking, and anti-jamming capabilities, it is armed with a 180 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead. Despite its capabilities, it is considered slower to deploy and less advanced than India’s S-400.

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The HQ-16, formally inducted by the Pakistan Army in 2017, is designed to provide low- to medium-altitude defence, with a range of around 40 km and the capability to intercept targets flying at altitudes between 400 and 10,000 metres.

This showed India's technological superiority over its neighbour, and emphasized its rapid development of indigenous technology that competes for military supremacy over nations such as China.

'No loss of Indian assets'

As the internet was flooded with false and misleading information coming out of Pakistan regarding severe loss of Indian assets, the government in its report has comprehensively debunked these claims.

The report stated, "All strikes were executed without loss of Indian assets, underscoring the effectiveness of our surveillance, planning, and delivery systems. The use of modern indigenous technology, from long-range drones to guided munitions, made these strikes highly effective and politically calibrated."

'Deliberate and precise'

Also reiterated was the fact that India's response to Pakistan-linked terrorism was "deliberate, precise, and strategic". Special mention has to be made of the fact that India managed the entire mission "without crossing the Line of Control or international border", showing India's shrewd manoeuvering to not allow Pakistan to claim a "full war attack".

Also read: US State Department urges direct communication between India, Pak

After this exceptional achievement by the Indian armed forces in Operation Sindoor, Pakistan responded by targeting several Indian military installations with a barrage of missiles and drones.

On the night of May 7 and 8, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India, including Awantipora, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai and Bhuj, using drones and missiles, but these were thwarted by India's defence systems, including indigenously-developed technologies.

'Parts of Chinese missile discovered'

During a press briefing by Air Marshal AK Bharti on Monday (May 12), images of destroyed drones and missiles were released by the Armed forces, including parts of an alleged enemy PL-15 Chinese missile.

“Shown on the screen is a probable enemy PL-15 missile of Chinese origin. This missile has missed its target and you can see pieces that are available with us now,” he said.

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However, Bharti, who is the Director General of Air Operations, did not provide details on what target the Chinese PL-15 missile missed.

Chinese war hardware repulsed

The PL-15 is a China-made advanced beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for superior targeting capabilities. With estimated speeds reaching up to Mach 5, and range exceeding 200 km, the PL-15 can engage high-value aerial targets.

In addition, its compatibility integration with other China-made platforms like fighters makes it a crucial element in China's quiver.

Also read: China denies reports of sending cargo plane with military supplies to Pakistan

Among the Chinese-made war hardware, Pakistan deployed PL-15 missiles and HQ-9P ground-to-air missiles and JF-17 and J-10 fighter jets against India. However, these were turned into smoke by India's aerial defence, which featured a significant share of indigenous weapons. Turkish Byker YIHA III Kamikaze drones were also taken down by the Indian Army's Army Air Defence near Amritsar.

India's stellar defence

The government's statement also detailed the defence equipment used by India to neutralize Pakistan's counter-attack, saying, "Battle-proven AD (Air Defence) systems like the Pechora, OSA-AK and LLAD guns (Low-level Air Defence guns) were used. In addition to that, indigenous systems such as the Akash demonstrated stellar performances."

The Akash Teer, part of the Indian Air Forces' Integrated Counter UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Grid, played a key role in thwarting Pakistani attacks on several Indian cities on May 8. It proved instrumental in defending Indian airspace against Pakistan’s drone and missile attacks.