New Delhi:
No enemy aircraft was allowed to come within hundreds of kilometres of Indian territory during Pakistan’s attempts to target the country’s installations last week, Director General of Naval Operations, Vice Admiral A N Pramod, said on Monday.
The presence of the navy’s aircraft carrier, with a large number of Mig 29 K fighters and airborne early warning helicopters prevented any suspicious or hostile aircraft from coming close to the “Carrier Battle Group”, he added.
The Vice Admiral’s remarks came at a press briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor’ that was launched by the armed forces to target terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on the intervening night of May 7 and 8, in response to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists – 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen – on April 25.
India’s retaliation prompted the forces to be on alert as the Pakistani forces made three attempts to target military installations using drones and missiles in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The threats were swiftly neutralised, according to the Defence Ministry.
The maritime force effectively used multiple sensors and inputs to degrade or neutralise threats as they emerged or manifest, to ensure targeting at extended ranges, Mr Pramod said.
He explained that the Indian Navy operates as a composite networked force capable of simultaneously addressing threats emanating from all domains – air, surface and sub-surface – through amalgamation of advanced sensors, synchronised on the Combat Management Systems.
“In effect the maritime force is able to ensure persistent surveillance, detection and identification for a comprehensive maritime domain awareness including the air space. Effectively using multiple sensors and inputs, we are maintaining continuous surveillance to degrade or neutralize threats as they emerge or manifest, to ensure targeting at extended ranges,” he said.
Such actions are conducted under the umbrella of a comprehensive and effective layered Fleet Air Defence mechanism that caters for all threats, be it drones or high speed missiles or aircraft, both fighters as well as surveillance aircraft, he added.