'Surprise was technical, not strategic': Ex-IAF officer counters criticism over jet losses to PAF

The Indian Air Force's loss of fighter jets during Operation Sindoor was not due to strategic or political misjudgement but a result of technical underestimation, former IAF pilot Ajay Ahlawat said on Tuesday, defending the military's actions and the government's constraints during the air campaign against Pakistan in May. 

Ahlawat said India lost some jets as the first wave of airstrikes was carried out under some very exacting circumstances. "Our strikers were operating under very restrictive rules of engagements, against an adversary that was pre-warned and well-armed," he added. 

The former pilot also said that SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) and DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses) missions that typically form the first phase of any air campaign were not carried out, as per the larger political directive limiting strikes to terror infrastructure and avoiding military targets.

"Surprise, a factor that usually favours the raiders, was missing in this case. On the other hand, the PAF flung a technical surprise on us by launching data-linked BVR missiles at extreme ranges. As admitted by the CDS, the IAF was quick to draw lessons and went back up in air in the subsequent days."

However, former Lt Gen H S Panag said that to assume that Pakistan would not do what it did — sprung an aerial ambush — "was a political and military folly. That it was a repeat of 2019 only points to our strategic naiveness."

Responding to this, Ahlawat said Pakistan's reaction had been expected: "There was no surprise at military or political level. The surprise was technical. The ranges of Chinese missiles far exceeded our assumptions. Guidance to air-launched weapons from satellites and AEWC was also not understood very well. Threat libraries in the EW suits were also not updated. Lessons were learnt quickly and decisive attacks were carried out on 9 and 10, without any interference from en air."

The controversy erupted after India's defence attache to Indonesia, Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar, acknowledged at a seminar in Jakarta on June 10 that the IAF lost "some aircraft" during the operation due to political constraints on targeting Pakistan's military assets. 

"Only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or their air defences," Kumar had said, adding that Indian forces later shifted strategy: "After the loss, we changed our tactics and we went for the military installations...we first achieved suppression of enemy air defences and then...all our attacks could easily go through using BrahMos missiles."

Following domestic political backlash, especially from the Congress which accused the Modi government of hiding the losses, the Indian Embassy in Jakarta issued a clarification, stating the remarks were taken "out of context and misrepresented." "His remarks have been quoted out of context and the media reports are a misrepresentation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker," the embassy said.

It emphasised that the original intent was to highlight how Indian armed forces follow civilian orders. "The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve under civilian political leadership, unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood," it said, in a veiled dig at Pakistan's military establishment.