In precision strike era, war has no front or rear: CISC Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit

Economic Times

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New Delhi: The lesson from India's Operation Sindoor that took down terror targets in Pakistan is that long-range precision-guided munitions like the Brahmos and Scalp have rendered geographical barriers meaningless and the side that sees the farthest and with most accuracy prevails, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) said on Wednesday.Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, who is responsible for coordinating inter-service activities, said that modern technology has fundamentally changed the battlefield as has been evident in recent conflicts, including the Indian cross-border strikes. Modern warfare , thanks to technology, has fundamentally altered the relationship between distance and vulnerability. Today, precision-guided munitions like Scalp and Brahmos have rendered geographical barriers almost meaningless," the senior officer said.He added that it can be seen from global conflicts like the Armenia-Azerbaijan war, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas fight and India's own experience in the recent strike that "the side that sees first, sees farthest and sees most accurately, prevails".The officer said that with weapons demonstrating the ability to strike hundreds of kilometers away with pinpoint accuracy, the traditional concepts of a battle front, rear, flanks and combat zones have become irrelevant and the war zone has merged into a combined theatre."This new reality demands that we extend our surveillance envelope far beyond what the previous generation could have even imagined. We must detect, identify and track potential threats, not when they approach our borders, but when they are still in their staging areas, airfields and bases, deep within their own territory," he said.This also reflects the Op Sindoor war fighting strategy with Pakistan in which airfields deep within its territory were disabled by long-range air-to-ground missiles , rendering it difficult for Pakistani forces to mount an aerial strike on India.Over the past few years, India has been investing heavily in stand off weapons like long-range air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface munitions and a range of missiles that are capable of taking down a target anywhere on Pakistani territory.