New Delhi: On June 1, 2025, the world witnessed an eye-opening breach of Russia’s navy defenses. Launched from inside hidden containers, Ukrainian drones penetrated greater than 4,000 kilometers deep into Russian territory and hit a number of airbases in an operation code named ‘Spider Net’. At the very least 40 Russian plane had been destroyed. It assault left world navy analysts surprised.
However extra surprising than the assault was the failure of Russia’s vaunted S-400 and S-500 air protection programs. These high-end platforms, touted as among the finest on the planet, couldn’t cease a fleet of low-flying and autonomous drones. Why?
The S-400’s Blind Spot
Russia’s failure was not purely a technological one, it was strategic. The S-400 is constructed to intercept high-altitude threats comparable to enemy plane, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. However it falters in opposition to low-flying and slow-moving drones that usually fly under radar protection. Add to that the dearth of low-level air protection, a unified command system and real-time risk intelligence and even probably the most superior system turns into susceptible.
In essence, the S-400 was wanting too far, whereas the actual hazard was up shut.
Having noticed world battlefield developments and drawn key classes from conflicts just like the Russia-Ukraine battle, India has adopted a extra adaptive technique. As a substitute of relying solely on high-tech imports just like the S-400, India has constructed a layered and built-in air protection mannequin.
This technique was examined and validated throughout the current Operation Sindoor, the place India not solely thwarted a multi-pronged drone and missile assault from Pakistan but additionally launched a exact counterstrike that neutralised enemy radars, HQ-9 programs and terrorist camps.
The Sport-Changer
On the centre of India’s new protection posture lies Akashteer, a real-time and automatic air protection management system developed indigenously. It’s greater than a radar. It’s a command nerve heart that connects the Air Pressure, the Military and the Navy on a single grid.
Akashteer tracks, prioritises and assigns aerial threats to probably the most appropriate interceptor, be it a missile, drone or gun, inside seconds.
Its key benefits embody 360-degree protection in opposition to drones, plane and cruise missiles, sooner decision-making and automatic risk response, seamless coordination amongst all armed providers and lowered threat of pleasant fireplace,
Previous Meets New
One of many unsung heroes of Operation Sindoor was the upgraded L-70 anti-aircraft gun. Initially launched a long time in the past, it has now been modernised with digital fireplace management programs and target-tracking radars. These weapons are actually able to capturing down drones and helicopters flying as little as 3,000 metres.
Complementing that is the Akash missile system, designed to take out threats as much as 25 km away. When deployed collectively in a “battle grid”, they cowl each low-level intrusions and high-flying aerial threats – one thing the S-400 can not do alone.
Why This Combine-Match Method Issues
The way forward for warfare is uneven. From drone swarms launched from delivery containers to precision assaults from behind enemy strains, standard programs just like the S-400 are not sufficient.
India’s terrain and adversaries, starting from China within the northeast to Pakistan within the west, require a multi-threat, all-weather and all-altitude protection method. A single-tier system merely can not cowl such a large spectrum.
What additionally units India aside is the rising reliance on indigenously developed programs. From Akashteer and Akash missiles to modernised L-70 weapons and homegrown radar programs, India’s air protection ecosystem is more and more self-reliant.
This boosts not solely operational flexibility, but additionally financial and industrial energy. The power to custom-build programs for particular missions, with out counting on exterior provide chains, has grow to be a strategic benefit, particularly in a post-COVID and post-Ukraine world marked by world disruptions.
What occurred in Russia is a warning – costly know-how alone can not win wars. With out clever integration, adaptive programs and multi-layered coordination, even the perfect platforms may be rendered out of date.
India’s layered air protection, rooted in homegrown tech, joint-force coordination and rapid-response automation, is rising as a world mannequin for contemporary warfare.
Because the world is confronted with new-age aerial threats, India’s ‘high-tech + low-level’ fusion could be the blueprint others observe.