On June 1, India’s chief of defence staff, admitted that his country had lost more than one aircraft during the May 7 encounter with the Pakistan Air Force.

When askedby a reporter about claims that six Indian jets had been downed, Gen Anil Chauhan went on to say: “What is important is … not the jets being downed but why they were downed.” Earlier on May 11, India’s director general of air operations had acknowledged the losses. “Losses are a part of combat,” Air Marshal AK Bharti said at a news conference.

There have been several independent verifications of Indian losses. Let us focus instead on how the PAF was able to stun a numerically superior adversary.

In today’s fast-evolving battlefields, wars are no longer fought with boots on the ground alone. Satellites in space, cyber units behind computer screens and fighter jets in the sky work in tandem to shape modern warfare.

As digital echo system reshapes the rules of engagement, air forces around the world are at the forefront of this transformation—combining action in land, air, cyber, space and electronic warfare domains. These are called multiple domain operations. Air force commanders now rely on data from all these domains for battle management and execution.

“The space technology improves communication, navigationand ISR awareness (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance). The cyber tools help disrupt enemy systems and protect the friendly ones; the electronic warfare targets enemy radars and communications to gain control of the electromagnetic space,” says Air Commodore Khalid Chishti (retired).

“In the multi-domain operations, the entire workforce acts as one. As one platform........

© The News on Sunday