Persistent Vigilance, Precision Targeting Key to Navy's Success in Operation Sindoor: DGNO

The Indian Navy played a crucial role in ensuring maritime and aerial security during Operation Sindoor, leveraging a fully networked, multi-domain force structure capable of addressing threats across air, surface, and sub-surface spectrums, Vice Admiral AN Pramod, Director General Naval Operations (DGNO), said during a press briefing on Monday.

Vice Admiral Pramod stated that the Navy’s strength lies in its integrated use of advanced sensors and Combat Management Systems, which provide continuous surveillance and a robust maritime domain awareness, including the aerial dimension. “We are maintaining persistent monitoring to detect, degrade, and neutralize threats as they emerge, ensuring precise targeting at extended ranges,” he said.

Highlighting the Indian Navy’s layered Fleet Air Defence system, he noted that it effectively counters various aerial threats such as drones, high-speed missiles, and combat aircraft. “Our fleet creates a surveillance bubble at extended ranges using advanced radars, and any intrusion into this bubble is promptly detected, identified, and categorized using a range of technologies,” he explained.

Central to this defence was the deployment of the Carrier Battle Group (CBG) with its integral air wing, comprising MiG-29K fighter jets and Airborne Early Warning (AEW) helicopters. This group formed the first layer of aerial defence, ensuring no hostile or unidentified aircraft approached within several hundred kilometers of the fleet.
Vice Admiral Pramod emphasized that the presence of the aircraft carrier and its combat-ready air wing during the current standoff served as a powerful deterrent. “Our trained pilots, capable of operations by day and night, ensured that the Carrier Battle Group remained secure and dominant in its area of operations.”

Following the terror attack in Pahalgam, which was attributed to Pakistan-sponsored elements, the Navy validated its anti-missile and anti-aircraft capabilities in a high-threat environment. “The CBG, with its formidable offensive capabilities, operated with complete freedom, forcing Pakistani air assets to remain confined near the Makran coast and preventing them from posing any credible maritime threat,” he said.

He concluded by asserting the Navy’s unwavering ability to detect, identify, and neutralize any aerial threats to its assets at sea. “The Indian Navy’s overwhelming dominance ensured that, if needed, we could strike at will.”​