Russian, Israeli arms used to defend, launch counter-attack

The Indian military on Thursday used a mix of Russian and Israeli-made weapons, and locally produced systems, to destroy missiles and drones fired by Pakistan at army and Indian Air Force bases.

- Maulik Pathak and Surjit Singh

NEW DELHI:

The Pakistani attack unfolded in two waves, one in the intervening night of May 7 and 8, and the other on the evening of May 8.

The first wave of attacks targeted 15 cities in the country's north and west, and the second, Jammu, other parts of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, and border districts in Punjab and Rajasthan. India responded to the first wave with a counter-attack on military targets in the neighboring country, including Lahore, officials aware of the matter said.

It was also expected that it would respond to the second wave later on May 8, or early on May 9.

The Pakistani attempt to strike Indian military bases and installations was defeated.

Indian forces used the Russian-origin S-400 Triumf air defence system, locally made Akash surface-to-air missiles, a variety of anti-drone systems and other counter-measures to defeat the incoming threats that were swiftly engaged after being detected and tracked by an integrated network of radars and command and control systems, the officials said, asking not to be named.

Loitering ammunitions, including Harop bought from Israel, were deployed to target air defence networks in Pakistan, the people said. The Harop is a kamikaze drone or suicide drone.

India ordered five units of the S-400 missile systems from Russia for 39,000 crore in October 2018. The S-400 can destroy a variety of aerial threats, including enemy fighter jets, missiles and unmanned aerial systems, at a range of up to 400 km. Three batteries have been inducted and deployed, but the remaining two are delayed at a time when Russia is caught in a lingering conflict with Ukraine.

Late on Thursday, there were unconfirmed reports of the system downing a Pakistani F-16 jet.