The induction of longer-range vectors capable of influencing land and shore targets at sea, along with a range of counter-UAV systems to take down low-cost enemy drones, are among the changes being incorporated by the Navy following Operation Sindoor, Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, said Tuesday.
Stating that most lessons learned and changes being implemented after Operation Sindoor are in concepts and technologies, he said the Navy is examining long-range vectors, where two sides do not cross each other’s territory and yet are able to influence land targets and shore targets at sea.
“…the Navy is very much looking into that, and therefore military targets, as well as economic targets on land, which have of course been a priority for us, become a higher priority. This means that we need to go in for longer-range vectors capable of that attack,” he told reporters on the sidelines of *Ran Samwad 2025*, a two-day tri-service dialogue on war, warfare and warfighting at the Army War College in Mhow.
He said another key lesson is that the use of drones has become ubiquitous, and many of them are low-cost—something also evident from Houthi actions in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
“And I feel therefore, that warships equipped with expensive surface-to-air missiles costing millions of dollars cannot really afford to expend their limited arsenal on a handful of low-cost UAVs. We have to develop systems, especially counter-UAV/UAS systems, which will help us take down the low-cost, attritable systems the enemy might throw at us,” he said.
He further noted that Operation Sindoor has underlined the need to add more systems on ships that are already crowded.
“The dense electromagnetic environment on ships causes limitations in adding systems that are transmitting. So, we have to manage that dense EM environment while adding more systems,” he said.
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He explained that when a counter-UAS jammer is added to a warship, it can end up jamming its own radars as well. “So that’s one of the pitfalls. So we have to work to wear out,” he said.
Speaking about Operation Sindoor, he said naval personnel “were raring to go. Absolutely.”
“They were there, right in front. The escalation ladder was controlled. It’s really because we had a military aim and we had a political aim, and that was achieved very early in the operation. Had the other side decided to escalate, we were ready. So our troops were absolutely raring to go.”
