As India marked a month since Operation Sindoor, the Defense Ministry has authorized its armed forces to replenish and enhance their strategic stockpile. This includes acquiring extended-range loitering munitions, kamikaze drones, artillery rounds, and air-to-air missiles designed to surpass the Chinese-origin missiles employed by Pakistan in the recent high-intensity standoff.
Indian Air Force Rafale fighters fired 5 to 6 Crystal Maze missiles targeting the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) headquarters in Muridke, while also launching 6 to 7 French SCALP missiles to precisely destroy the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) base in Bahawalpur.
Military assessments and digital evidence confirm that Indian missile systems, including the S-400 air defense system, successfully downed four Pakistani jets of Chinese origin and two large aircraft—reportedly a C-130J and a SAAB 2000. Reports further reveal that Indian strikes partially damaged two F-16s and targeted 11 Pakistani air bases, including those in Sargodha, Rafiqui, Jacobabad, and Rawalpindi.
India’s retaliation also neutralized multiple radar systems: a Chinese LY-80, two American AN/TPQ-43 trackers, and a fire unit from the HQ-9 radar setup in Chaklala. Recent intelligence reports reveal that Pakistan currently possesses four HQ-9 air defense systems, twice the number previously estimated.
During the four-day engagement, IAF launched 19 BrahMos cruise missiles and nearly equal numbers of SCALP missiles at Pakistani military assets. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s counter-effort with CM-400 AKG missiles from JF-17s caused no notable damage.
Pakistan also used Turkish YIHA loitering ammunition and FATAH-1 rockets, but Indian electronic countermeasures and missile defense systems rendered these attacks ineffective.
India’s counter-terror operations on May 7 marked a pivotal moment, with Crystal Maze and SCALP missiles inflicting heavy damage on major terror sites in Pakistan. Simultaneously, M777 howitzers armed with U.S.-supplied Excalibur rounds, along with Polish and Israeli loitering munitions, obliterated border fortifications and terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
From May 7 to May 10, India neutralized nine terror camps and over 100 militants while hitting 13 Pakistani bases. Internal Pakistani documents now confirm Indian drone activity as far west as Peshawar and south to Hyderabad.
Pakistan’s counteroffensive, Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, collapsed in just eight hours, falling drastically short of its planned 48-hour duration. With replenishment already underway, India is preparing for future threats, signaling that Operation Sindoor was not the end, but the beginning of strategic recalibration.
