Beyond missiles and drones, Operation Sindoor underscored the critical role of Electronic Warfare (EW) in contemporary conflict, marking a “cat-and-mouse” competition for control over the electromagnetic spectrum. While kinetic actions capture headlines, it is the invisible struggle—centered on jamming, deception, and signals intelligence—that shapes battlefield outcomes.
Indian forces showcased significant capability in electronic attack during Operation Sindoor. The battlefield deployment of Akashteer system drones equipped with electronic countermeasure payloads served a dual function: actively jamming Pakistani radar frequencies to blind air defences and creating deceptive electronic signatures. Decoy drones such as the indigenous Lakshya UAV complicated enemy targeting by mimicking larger aerial threats, effectively saturating and confusing Pakistani air defence systems.
This layered EW approach disrupted enemy command and control and degraded their situational awareness. It forced adversaries into reactive modes, scrambling to distinguish genuine threats from false signals—a task complicated by continuous Indian signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering, which fed actionable data back into automated EW platforms.
Both sides employed SIGINT to detect, locate, and counter each other’s transmissions, generating a dynamic electromagnetic battlefield where control of the spectrum equated to control of the fight. The contest extended from traditional radar bands into communications, navigation signals, and unmanned system datalinks.
Operation Sindoor validated the rising importance of EW embedded within integrated command frameworks, revealing that dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum can amplify the effectiveness of physical weapons and uncrewed systems. As drone swarms and autonomous platforms proliferate, sophisticated jamming, deception, and real-time SIGINT capabilities will be decisive in future confrontations, shaping doctrines, procurement priorities, and training regimens worldwide.
-Dr Sri Nayana Kavuri
