In this episode of Super 6, India Today's Akshita Nandagopal explores the critical role of indigenous weapons in Operation Sindoor.
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00:00Good evening, you're tuning to Super 6 here on India Today. I'm Akshita Anandakopal and this evening over the next 30 minutes, I'm going to be getting you all the details about the Desi weapons that were part of Operation Sindur.
00:12Days on details still trickling in on exactly how Operation Sindur was carried off and a big, big contributor in that has been the Brahmos missile and several other made in India arms weapons which we'll be breaking down for you.
00:27What really makes the Brahmos a game-changer? Why was it used 15 times in a single night by our forces? All those details coming your way. Let's begin with the headlines first.
00:42Defence Minister Rajnath Singh meets air warriors at Bhujia Air Base criticises IMF loan to Pakistan, claims Pakistan to fund terror and will pay 14 crores to Masuda Zarnal.
00:57Big boost to defence budget likely. Sources say centre may allocate 50,000 crores additional component in defence budget to procure equipment needed for forces.
01:22The superhero of Operation Sindur, Brahmos missiles proved their mettle and how in the last few days.
01:41Sources have confirmed to us that the Brahmos missile was fired 15 times to decimate Pakistani air bases.
01:48This was on the intervening night of May 9th and May 10th when India hit back at Pakistan.
01:53Now, according to sources, the Indian Air Force used pilotless target aircraft to provoke Pakistani radars and air defence systems into action.
02:02Once they were activated, India deployed the Harap Kamikaze drones to disable, damage those very systems.
02:08And this move paved the way for further missile attacks using Brahmos and SCAD cruise missiles.
02:15The aircraft carrying these missiles took off from various bases under India's Western and Southwestern Air Commands.
02:22And these attacks struck critical locations including a hangar in Sindh where Pakistan reportedly lost extremely important crucial equipment including UAVs and an airborne surveillance aircraft.
02:34It was all strategically done with these precision strikes.
02:38Now, this entire operation has proven to us how the Brahmos has truly been a game-changer in India's arsenal.
02:45It has a low-flying capability. It's a supersonic missile.
02:49The missile is highly accurate, which is why precision strikes were even possible.
02:53It's also very difficult to intercept.
02:56The Brahmos has both nuclear and conventional warheads as we just showed you there.
02:59It's also capable of engaging land targets, sea targets and air-based targets.
03:06The range of land and ship-based versions is about 800 to 900 kilometres.
03:10What we mean by that is the Brahmos also can be fired from an INS Vikrant.
03:15The air-launched versions have a range of 450 to 500 kilometres.
03:20Made in India, the Brahmos has truly been a game-changer for our forces.
03:29Brahmos is a team-changer for the
03:45Brahmos.
03:46Brahmos, this is a sign-chin-changer.
03:47अधिये सशेस्त्र बलों के लिए प्रत्थम बसंदिदा हथियार बन गई है यह यूनिवर्सल मिसाई आधोनिक युद शेत्र में बहू भोमिका बहूलक्ष और बहू प्लैट्फॉर्म लॉंच शमताओं के साथ एक प्रमुक्ष फोर्स मल्टिप्लाइर के रूप में स्था
04:1712 June 2001 کو اپنی پہلی سفل launching کے بعد سے
04:23브�رمہوس نے ویبھن platformوں سے
04:26الگ الگ پریدرشوں میں
04:28100 سے ادھik پریقشنوں کا
04:30وشوستری record بنایا ہے
04:32جس میں اس کی سفلتہ درسر ووچ رہی ہے
04:36اور اس کی شریشتہ پرمانیت ہوئی ہے
04:47ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ
05:17ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ
05:47ॐ ॐ
06:17ॐ ॐ
06:21ॐ
06:22ॐ
06:23ॐ
06:24ॐ
06:25ॐ
06:27ॐ
06:29The manufacturing center being set up in Lucknow as a part of the UP Defense Industry Corridor will be a major addition to the existing Brahmo's production facilities across the country.
06:39Lucknow unit will expedite the production, integration and assembly of Brahmo's systems to meet the growing demand for the missiles both in the national and international sphere.
06:50We make the work of peace that makes the world proud.
06:55Jai Hind!
07:20John Spencer about India's Operation Sindhu, particularly about how the BrahMos missile
07:26delivered.
07:30Fifteen BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles were fired at Pakistan military bases, apart
07:37from the targeting of nine terror camps.
07:41What does this say of India's intent with the missiles finding the target?
07:46One, it shows an undeniable military superiority that India was able to launch those missiles
07:53and hit every target, which is no easy task.
07:56There's radars, there's interceptors, there's all kinds of things, but also shows the precision.
08:02India was not going, you know, escalating.
08:05It was responding to being attacked both from a terror attack and from the Pakistani military.
08:10So those very specific precision-guided munitions that can hit within three meters, essentially,
08:17was a very big choice to make sure they're hitting what they want, to send the exact message that
08:22they want, which is we can hit any site in Pakistan that we want, but we're showing restraint as
08:29a sign of strength in establishing a new doctrine, basically.
08:33Explain this new doctrine in your appreciation as someone who studies urban warfare very closely,
08:41the action on ground, and what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said about dealing with Pakistan's state-sponsored terror.
08:49Yeah, it's been really amazing to watch in a short amount of time to basically establish a new strategic doctrine,
08:56which is no easy task.
08:58The first part of it was that any terror attack will be immediately responded to with force.
09:04I've been to Mumbai.
09:06I've studied the 2008 Mumbai attack.
09:08That's a very different approach, even in Balakot in 2019, to say we will respond with overwhelming
09:14but precise force to any terror attack.
09:18And this is basically establishing a new red line for India not to seek other means and first respond
09:25with military force, but then there are other aspects to this which are really important.
09:30I mean, the comment about, you know, terrorism and talk.
09:33So terrorism and then we negotiate and seek diplomatic means don't mix, just like blood and water don't mix.
09:39That was a very powerful statement.
09:41Then the other aspect was the no nuclear blackmail, right?
09:44So this state sponsorship of many terrorist organizations, especially Laskar, Etabia,
09:50with the Pakistan ISI trained, financed, and deployed into India to do attacks,
09:56that nuclear blackmail will no longer be the excuse to why people should say that this should be accepted.
10:03India is saying no longer will this reckless, basically, nuclear blackmail be the reason that this is allowed to continue,
10:11which I think the entire world should take note of that.
10:13You know, everybody usually steps in because these are, you know, Pakistan has a nuclear weapon saying,
10:17well, look, you got to not respond.
10:20You have to keep this at a certain level.
10:22Absolutely, India did do that.
10:26It provided immediate responses proportionate to the objective that they were trying to achieve,
10:32but no more nuclear blackmail just because you have a nuclear weapon in the world,
10:37let alone if you're a state backer of terrorism, doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want.
10:41But India also showed, in order to establish this new doctrine, you have to have deterrence.
10:48India showed and validated their military superiority, both offensively, so being able to hit any site,
10:54but also defensively.
10:56So Pakistan wasn't able to hit a single site in India, even though they targeted civilian and military sites.
11:02So the Brahmo's might everyone's talking about clearly.
11:08There are other indigenous systems that also delivered for our forces.
11:13The Akash missile, locally developed suicide drones, the Sky Striker, other homegrown defenses too,
11:18played a key role in debt-wing Pakistan.
11:20Let's run you through each of them one after another.
11:22First, the Akash Teh, a defense system that played such a big role in ensuring that India stayed safe
11:29amid Pakistan's attempts to send drones and missiles our way.
11:32So the Akash Teh system is an indigenous command and control air defense system.
11:37It worked alongside the S-400 and several other air defense systems that the Indian Air Force has.
11:44The Akash Teh system was actually developed by BEL, the Bharat Electronics Limited,
11:48and enables forces to intercept, neutralize any projectiles, in this case, Pakistan projectiles.
11:55It also generates real-time data to precisely track any aerial threats coming our way.
12:01It collects inputs from multiple radars and sensors like AVAX that are spread across India,
12:08and with this AVAX data that comes in, it then ensures that every single threat is immediately identified.
12:14So essentially, if you will, it acts like a nerve center, a digital nerve center of the air defense network.
12:19This is the Akash Teh system, which again, tried and tested in Operation Sindur.
12:24Then you have the Akash missile system.
12:27It's a surface-to-air missile system, mid-range.
12:30It's developed domestically by the DRDO, and the DRDO has done a fantastic job in the last many years.
12:36That's been very clear in how all of the systems that they've essentially been a part of developing and manufacturing
12:42has played a crucial role in Operation Sindur.
12:45You know, as far as the Akash missile is concerned, the reason we called it a mid-range surface-to-air missile
12:49is because it has a range of 45 to 70 kilometers, but it can engage multiple threats simultaneously,
12:56and is also, in fact, equipped with a 60-kilo high-explosive warhead.
13:03It's also got advanced guidance systems that makes it easier for our forces to use this missile as well.
13:09Once you pick the target, clearly it's guided to that.
13:12Now, let's also talk about the Desi suicide drones, the kamikaze drones.
13:17Now, the Sky Striker suicide drones were used to aim this operation.
13:20This is actually a Bengaluru-based company that came up with these drones, again, for the very first time being used by our forces.
13:27It can locate, acquire, and strike enemy targets with high, almost immediate precision, 100% precision.
13:36Loitering munitions, essentially that they're drones, they're capable of carrying a 5-kg warhead.
13:42So it directs, it delivers direct-fire aerial precision attacks in a range of 100 kilometers,
13:48and is deployed effectively in anti-terror operations used specifically to target infrastructure across border regions.
13:56Now, it's also a critical edge as far as search and destroy missions go,
14:00because then there's no need of any manpower reaching these locations,
14:03especially in counter-terror, shoot-to-kill ops.
14:06These particular Desi suicide drones are extremely crucial,
14:10because what it does is it ensures that there's no, you know, human that has to go up and operate,
14:17or goes and, you know, there's no threat to their life per se.
14:20This drone can be told where to hit, hits precisely that particular location, blows up.
14:24These drones are made in Bengaluru, developed by a Bengaluru-based company in collaboration with Israel.
14:29There have been 100 drones inducted into the Indian Army in 2021.
14:33My sense is that number is going to go up,
14:35showing how effective these drones were in this particular operation.
14:38Let's talk about the medium-range surface-to-air missile, the MR-SAM,
14:43developed again by DRDO in collaboration with Israel.
14:46There are multiple such projects which are in collaboration either with Israel or Russia,
14:50which have also proved to be extremely productive for India.
14:54Now, this missile has a range of 70 to 100 kilometers,
14:57so a little more than the Akash missile.
15:00The altitude coverage is 20 to 30 kilometers.
15:02As far as guidance goes, it's got dual command and also an active radar seeker.
15:08It's got a proximity fuse, so it's got a fragmentation warhead of sorts.
15:14It can be launched from land and from sea, which is a big advantage with this particular missile.
15:20And it can take down UAVs, drones, aircraft, cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions as well.
15:27So, these are essentially the weapons that played a big role in Operation Sindhu,
15:31gave us that clear edge over not just Pakistan, but clearly against China and Turkey as well.
15:37Our next report tells you more about these made-in-India weapons.
15:41That's been a game-changer for our forces.
15:44We also spoke to many of these makers of these weapons.
15:48The four-day flare-up between India and Pakistan last week wasn't just a military skirmish.
16:05It became a real-world testbed for India's indigenously developed defense systems.
16:11As tensions escalated and cross-border attacks intensified,
16:19several made-in-India weapons were deployed,
16:23offering a glimpse into how far India's domestic defense capabilities have come.
16:31Operation Sindhu demonstrated the precision and reliability of the made-in-India weapons,
16:36reinforcing the success of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative in Defense Manufacturing.
16:42Met in-in-India weapons,
16:51our noble made-in-India weapons is in this operation.
16:52The purpose of our made-in-India weapons had been done.
16:56Today, the world is now watching that the 21st century warfighter,
17:05made-in-India defense equipment has come.
17:08The missile, which is a household name now, is the BrahMos.
17:17A joint initiative of Russia in India, the missile is credited with disabling Pakistan terror camps and air force infrastructure.
17:27With the recent inauguration of a manufacturing facility in Lucknow,
17:31the BrahMos is now being built by the DRDO in three cities, which include Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.
17:38The Akash surface-to-air missile system deployed by both the Indian Army and Air Force along the Pakistan border
18:05played a pivotal role in countering Pakistani drone incursions and aerial threats.
18:16The missile, with a range of 25 to 30 kilometers, is built by listed public sector companies, Bharat Electronics and Bharat Dynamics.
18:26According to reports, Tata Advanced Systems and L&T also play a role in their production.
18:32The Akash Teer air defense system, developed by Bharat Electronics,
18:37integrated seamlessly with ground-based defenses, effectively thwarting Pakistan's air operations.
18:44The system is part of India's integrated defense grid, which also comprises the D4 anti-drones setup.
18:51D4 disables drones by jamming them and also via spoofing technologies and laser-based mechanism.
18:58Multiple DRDO labs are involved in this project.
19:06Another medium-range surface-to-air missile system used was the Barak-8, jointly developed by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries.
19:15It is now manufactured in India by Bharat Dynamics and by private sector companies,
19:21Kalyani Rafal Advanced Systems and Tata Advanced Systems.
19:26Among frontline weaponized drones, the Sky Striker is being manufactured in India by a joint venture between Israel's Elbit System
19:34and Adani Group's Alpha Design Technologies.
19:37Nagpur-based Solar Industries and Bengaluru-based Z-Motion make another weaponized drone, the Nagastra.
19:45It's a, you know, 100-kilometer range and it has, you know, it can take warheads up to 5 to 10 kgs
19:55and has the ability to go up to, you know, and then actually have a very highly precision attacks.
20:02And that's one of its key strengths.
20:03It has a very high precision, up to a 1 meter precision.
20:07That's the quality of this product.
20:10The Scalp EG cruise missile, though not indigenous, was complemented by India's homegrown radar and targeting systems,
20:18which ensured accurate strikes.
20:22India's defence production has exploded in the past few years,
20:26with defence exports rising by 12% in 2024-25 to nearly 24,000 crore rupees.
20:37Importantly, made-in-India arms and ammunition are finding a big market overseas
20:42and analysts feel the success of these systems in Operation Sindhu will only boost their demand.
20:51Bureau Report, Business Today.
20:58And just to put the focus really on Atmanirbar Bharat and Atmanirbar Defence,
21:03has it really worked?
21:05Some numbers on your screens of defence exports, which have jumped in the last many years.
21:10If you look at what it was, 2013 to 2014, it was at 686 crores.
21:16And then it jumped right up between 2024 to 2025, right up to 23,622 crores.
21:24That's a 34-fold rise.
21:26What we're showing on your screens is data from 2020 all the way up to 2024-25.
21:32But if I were to take you right back to 2013 to 2014, that number was just at 686 crores.
21:38So the Atmanirbar Bharat campaign, the push, focusing particularly on defence, has made a huge difference.
21:44Just look at those numbers.
21:45Like I said, a 34-fold increase, where now it stands at 23,622 crore rupees.
21:54So in the next year, hopefully, that number will go up.
21:57Thanks very much for tuning in to Super 6.
21:59I'll see you same time Monday evening.
22:01I'll see you same time Monday evening.