India’s decisive move to attack multiple airbases using BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles forced Pakistan to agree to a ceasefire, highly-placed sources have said.
India used BrahMos after Pakistan had tried to target New Delhi with its Fatah 2 ballistic missiles, which were intercepted and brought down by the S 400 Air Defence System near Sirsa in Haryana,125 km from the capital.
India targeted multiple air bases, including the highly-fortified Noor Khan air base in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala, just 10 km from Islamabad. This was the first time that India used BrahMos in combat.
“BrahMos was mounted on Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet, which targeted Pakistan’s several key military installations and air bases deep inside the country, including the air base at Noor Khan (Chaklala),” sources said.
The destruction of the road and airstrip eventually neutralised Pakistan’s access to its nuke assets. “The tactical use of the cruise missile was meant to undermine Pakistan’s posturing as a nuclear power. It was the turning point which sent shock waves to Rawalpindi and sobered the military leadership, including its Army chief, Asim Munir. A day before, India had struck the air defence system at Lahore, which had already laid bare Pakistan’s vulnerabilities in detecting India’s missiles that hit the targets with precision deep inside their territory,” sources said.
Besides Chaklala, BrahMos was used to strike other air bases in Pakistan - Rafiqui (Shorkot), Murid(Chakwal), Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian (Kasur), besides critical radar installations at Pasrur and Sialkot. Major damage was also reported at airfields in Skardu, Bholari, Jacobabad, and Sargodha.
The escalation of hostilities between the two countries were brought to a halt following the intervention of the United States President Donald Trump, who on Saturday in his post on Truth Social said that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire.”
Later, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that the DGMOs of the two countries had agreed to stop all firings and military action on land, air and sea with effect from 5 pm on Saturday. However, Pakistan violated the ceasefire a few hours later.
BrahMos is a long-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile with high high-explosive, conventional warhead. The missile can take any trajectory predetermined by the user. BarahMos missile is similar to a pilotless aircraft that can be launched from any platform - submarines, ships or fighter aircraft, its speed is 2.8 Mac, approximately 900 metres per second and can cover 300 to 800 kilometres. Fatah 2 is a ballistic missile, which follows a free-fall trajectory of stone throw in the sky and a parabolic drop.
BrahMos is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya. They have together formed BrahMos Aerospace. A new BrahMos facility was launched in Lucknow on Sunday.
