- Operation Sindoor saw Indian Air Force hit five Pakistani fighter jets and a large aircraft in May strikes
- US expert John Spencer praised the political-military alignment and joint synchronisation in the operation
- India provided detailed evidence including satellite imagery to verify the strikes' success, the expert said
US warfare expert John Spencer said many surprises marked Operation Sindoor, ones which are not expected in the clash of two advanced militaries. He was speaking to NDTV after Indian Air Force's Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said at least five Pakistani fighter jets and one large aircraft were hit by the Indian defence forces in strikes that began on May 7, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.
Mr Spencer credited Operation Sindoor's success to a historical alignment between the political and military, with the latter carrying out the mission with the right of self-defence and self-operation in place but also with the objective of achieving political goals.
He said questions raised at the time of strikes about Pakistan being unable to stop Indian strikes on some physical locations now find an answer in the vitality of joint synchronisation in warfare.
The warfare expert said the technology differences between India and Pakistan exist, but "integration in war is a test of everything". He added that the ground system, air system and even naval capabilities work together to ensure such military successes. "I don't think you can discount that India was able to not have this happen on Indian soil," Mr Spencer said.
The expert echoed Air Chief Marshal Singh's remark that the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system was a "game-changer". "A 300-plus kilometer range interception of a heavily-guarded air asset is a very big deal," he said, adding that it was the historic penetration that beat US's 200-kilometre engagement in 1991. "The dominance of the Indian military during Operation Sindoor is objectively conclusive by not just defence, but offence," Mr Spencer said.
Further lauding the reliability of Indian information on the Operation Sindoor strikes, Mr Spencer said that India has offered "receipts", including satellite imagery and other details.
In the first official comment on the damage caused to Pakistan during the Indian strikes over three months ago, Air Chief Marshal Singh said that there were indications of at least one Airborne Warning and Control System in that AWC hangar, and a few F-16s, which are under maintenance there, being damaged.
The operation also resulted in a large number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), drones, and some of their missiles falling into the Indian territory without causing any damage to Indian installations.
He said people are asking if there were any restrictions or if Indian Air Force was kept constrained. "So I want to make it very clear there were no, I repeat, no restrictions on us. Full freedom was given to us to plan and execute. I must say that you know that our attacks have been calibrated because we wanted to be mature about it," he added.
On the takeaways from Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal Singh said, "The biggest takeaway of the operation has been that the primacy of air warfare has come to the forefront once again. People have realised that air warfare is the first responder that any country has, and air warfare can actually react in a quick time, attack deep inside with precision, and just achieve your objective without any collateral."
