NDTV Defence Summit 2025: Air Force Shows A Glimpse Of India's Integrated Air Command Map

The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari shared an integrated air command map during a presentation on Operation Sindoor at the NDTV Defence Summit 2025 on Saturday.

While some briefings including restricted ones have already been given, Air Marshal Tiwari said this is the first time after Operation Sindoor that the Air Force is speaking on an open forum.

"So I thought it is a good opportunity to take you through how we did what we did, what was the thought process behind it, how it panned out and essentially some key takeaways, especially for the future as we look forward to what is going to happen in these uncertain geopolitical times," he said.

Behind him, he showed a large map of the integrated air command that kept watch across India.

"Equally important is the tacit acknowledgement that the Indian Air Force is India's sword arm. And what we did in Op Sindoor was just probably a little snapshot of what capability the Air Force brings to this country," he added.

He said all the three services met in their headquarters and started planning for possible operations the very next day after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists.

"Some of these planning and contingencies, we keep doing them over a period of time... to respond fast. And the operational options were presented to a high-level team on April 24. All the possible options for all the three services were discussed. And essentially with targets shortlisted, the tactical planning commenced around April 29, waiting for the political go-ahead," Air Marshal Tiwari said.

The higher directions given to the IAF was essentially threefold - punitive action needs to be visual and visible, complete operational freedom to plan any response to enemy actions, and plan to cater for escalation into a full-fledged conventional operation.

He said they were expecting a Pakistani response and were ready for it.

"Our integrated air defence was able to take care of it. But we were very proportionate in our response and it was very calibrated. We knew that this was not the main attack. Essentially, they were trying to see the response of our air defence systems, so we kept it very, very subtle," the  Vice Chief of the Air Staff said.