On Saturday, 9 August, at the Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, addressed the end of Operation Sindoor.
“People got down to their egos in this war… Once we achieved our objective, we should have looked for all windows of opportunity to stop… Some people very close to me said, ‘Aur maarna tha’. But can we continue to be at war?... The nation has taken a good decision,” Singh said, defending the pause in operations.
According to him, the scale of damage achieved in less than four days left Pakistan looking for an exit. “In 80 to 90 hours of war, we were able to achieve so much damage that it was clear to them that if they continue, they are going to pay for it more and more. So they came forward and sent a message to our DGMO that they wanted to talk. This was accepted on our side.”
Also Read: ‘We dreamed of the day we’d reach Sargodha’: IAF Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on striking Pak's air base
Largest recorded surface-to-air kill
For the first time, Singh confirmed the full count of Pakistani aircraft lost in the operation.
“We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he said.
Strikes on key Pakistani air bases
Singh gave a detailed account of the May 7 strikes, targeting multiple Pakistani airfields and command centres.
“Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield, one of the major airfields that was attacked. Here there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there. We were able to get at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala. At least six radars, some of them big, some of them small… We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance there.”
He also confirmed strikes on the airfield at Sargodha, long considered a high-value target. “Sargodha, we’ve grown up in our Air Force, dreaming about days like this, someday we’ll get a chance to go there. So it just so happens that I got my chance just before I retired… So we took on the airfield there…”
Also Read: India-Pakistan air battle during Op Sindoor: What is an ELINT, AEW&C aircraft and why the IAF’s kill is important
Bahawalpur and the ‘ghost of Balakot’
The IAF also hit Bahawalpur, the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group. Singh presented before-and-after satellite images showing precision damage. “There’s hardly any collateral here… The adjacent buildings are fairly intact… Not only did we have satellite pictures, but also from local media, through which we could get inside pictures.”
Reflecting on earlier operations, he compared it to Balakot in 2019. “In Balakot, we could not get anything from inside, and it became a big issue trying to tell our own people, unfortunately, as to what we have been able to achieve. We had intelligence of what had gone on inside, had human kind of intelligence where we had very clear picture of inside in terms of there’s had been a huge damage. There have been so many terrorists who have been neutralised, but we could not convince our own people that, look, we have achieved that… So I’m very happy that this time we were able to take care of that ghost of Balakot that we were able to tell the world what we have achieved.”
Also Read: India shot down 5 Pakistani fighter jets, 1 military aircraft in May fighting, says IAF Chief
S-400 air defence system and strategy
Singh praised India’s air defence network, especially the recently inducted S-400 system.
“Our air defence systems have done a wonderful job. The S-400 system, which we had recently bought, has been a game-changer. The range of that system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons like, those long-range glide bombs that they have, they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system.”
He explained the rules of engagement were set with clarity. “We decided that if they attack any of our military installation, then we are going to reply by attacking their military installation which matter to them. This point was debated… Their aircraft tried to penetrate our defences. Our Air Defence systems did a wonderful job. Here, S-400 was a game-changer.”
According to Singh, the government’s approach was crucial to success.
“A key reason for success was the presence of political will. There were very clear directions given to us. No restrictions were put on us… If there were any constraints, they were self-made… We decided how much to escalate… We had full freedom to plan and execute. Our attacks were calibrated because we wanted to be mature about it… There was a synchronisation between the three forces… The post of CDS made a real difference. He was there to get us together… NSA also played a big role in getting all the agencies…”
“People got down to their egos in this war… Once we achieved our objective, we should have looked for all windows of opportunity to stop… Some people very close to me said, ‘Aur maarna tha’. But can we continue to be at war?... The nation has taken a good decision,” Singh said, defending the pause in operations.
According to him, the scale of damage achieved in less than four days left Pakistan looking for an exit. “In 80 to 90 hours of war, we were able to achieve so much damage that it was clear to them that if they continue, they are going to pay for it more and more. So they came forward and sent a message to our DGMO that they wanted to talk. This was accepted on our side.”
Also Read: ‘We dreamed of the day we’d reach Sargodha’: IAF Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on striking Pak's air base
Largest recorded surface-to-air kill
For the first time, Singh confirmed the full count of Pakistani aircraft lost in the operation.
“We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he said.
Strikes on key Pakistani air bases
Singh gave a detailed account of the May 7 strikes, targeting multiple Pakistani airfields and command centres.
“Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield, one of the major airfields that was attacked. Here there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there. We were able to get at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala. At least six radars, some of them big, some of them small… We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance there.”
He also confirmed strikes on the airfield at Sargodha, long considered a high-value target. “Sargodha, we’ve grown up in our Air Force, dreaming about days like this, someday we’ll get a chance to go there. So it just so happens that I got my chance just before I retired… So we took on the airfield there…”
Also Read: India-Pakistan air battle during Op Sindoor: What is an ELINT, AEW&C aircraft and why the IAF’s kill is important
Bahawalpur and the ‘ghost of Balakot’
The IAF also hit Bahawalpur, the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group. Singh presented before-and-after satellite images showing precision damage. “There’s hardly any collateral here… The adjacent buildings are fairly intact… Not only did we have satellite pictures, but also from local media, through which we could get inside pictures.”
Reflecting on earlier operations, he compared it to Balakot in 2019. “In Balakot, we could not get anything from inside, and it became a big issue trying to tell our own people, unfortunately, as to what we have been able to achieve. We had intelligence of what had gone on inside, had human kind of intelligence where we had very clear picture of inside in terms of there’s had been a huge damage. There have been so many terrorists who have been neutralised, but we could not convince our own people that, look, we have achieved that… So I’m very happy that this time we were able to take care of that ghost of Balakot that we were able to tell the world what we have achieved.”
Also Read: India shot down 5 Pakistani fighter jets, 1 military aircraft in May fighting, says IAF Chief
S-400 air defence system and strategy
Singh praised India’s air defence network, especially the recently inducted S-400 system.
“Our air defence systems have done a wonderful job. The S-400 system, which we had recently bought, has been a game-changer. The range of that system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons like, those long-range glide bombs that they have, they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system.”
He explained the rules of engagement were set with clarity. “We decided that if they attack any of our military installation, then we are going to reply by attacking their military installation which matter to them. This point was debated… Their aircraft tried to penetrate our defences. Our Air Defence systems did a wonderful job. Here, S-400 was a game-changer.”
According to Singh, the government’s approach was crucial to success.
“A key reason for success was the presence of political will. There were very clear directions given to us. No restrictions were put on us… If there were any constraints, they were self-made… We decided how much to escalate… We had full freedom to plan and execute. Our attacks were calibrated because we wanted to be mature about it… There was a synchronisation between the three forces… The post of CDS made a real difference. He was there to get us together… NSA also played a big role in getting all the agencies…”
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