THE TSUNAMI THAT NEVER BROKE

 THE INVISIBLE NAVAL DETERRENT

 Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar PVSM AVSM VM & BAR VSM (Ret'd)

As an Indian Air Force veteran, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at Admiral Arun Prakash’s love letter to the Indian Navy’s Operation Sindoor, as published in his grandiose article, 'Indian Navy stood tall in Operation Sindoor'. The admiral paints a picture of naval might so dazzling you’d think the Arabian Sea was hosting a fireworks show. But let’s cut through the nautical fanfare and get real—while the Navy was busy flexing its 'non-contact warfare' muscles, the Indian Air Force could’ve done the same job faster, quieter, and without all the splashy theatrics.

The article’s obsession with “maritime domain awareness” and “situational awareness” is almost comical. Satellites, aircraft, coastal radars—does the Navy think the Air Force is flying blind? Our AWACS and ISR platforms have been stitching together real-time battle pictures since before the Navy’s BrahMos missiles were more than a PowerPoint slide. And let’s not kid ourselves about the Pakistan Navy cowering in their harbours. They didn’t “venture forth” during Operation Sindoor? Maybe they just didn’t see the point in playing hide-and-seek with a carrier group flexing in international waters south of Mumbai, far from any real threat.

Then there’s the ‘de facto blockade’ south of Karachi, complete with ‘live missile firing drills’ to show off ‘crew readiness’. Sounds more like an expensive photo-op than a strategic masterstroke. If the goal was to disrupt Pakistan’s maritime trade, where’s the evidence of actual economic impact? A few ships delayed at Karachi or Port Qasim? The Air Force could’ve cratered a runway or two and achieved the same psychological effect, probably faster and with less fuel burned. Admiral Prakash calls the Navy the ‘Silent Service’, but this article is anything but silent—it’s practically shouting from the rooftops. Meanwhile, the IAF quietly maintained air superiority, conducted interdiction missions, and kept the adversary guessing without needing to publish a manifesto about it.

Operation Sindoor might’ve looked good on paper, but let’s not confuse a naval pageant with decisive military impact. The real work of keeping the enemy in check happened this time in the skies, where the IAF has been setting the pace for decades. Nice try, Navy, but maybe you should stick to ruling the waves and leave the heavy lifting to us flyboys.