Opinion | IAF Convoy Attack: Blitzkrieg is The Need of The Hour

On May 4, 2024, an Air Force convoy was travelling from the Jaranwali Air Force Station toward Sanai Top, located in the Surankote town of Poonch district. As the convoy approached the Shahsitar area in Poonch around 6 pm, it came under heavy fire from terrorists, raised, trained, and funded not only by the Pakistan Army – our perpetual enemy on the Western front – but also by the longstanding expansionist enemy, China, on the North and East.

Our air warriors bravely fought back with return fire and as per the Indian Air Force official press release, in the ensuing battle, one IAF warrior was killed and four others were injured. At the time of writing this article, the injured are being treated at the Command Hospital in Udhampur. Additional troops have been deployed to Jarra Wali Gali in Poonch to address the situation.

There are a couple of points that should make our entire security apparatus to be on its toes as far as the attack on the IAF convoy is concerned.

1. It has been reported in the media that the Indian security forces have been conducting search operations after specific inputs about the movement of suspected individuals in Poonch since Friday, May 3, 2024.
2. It has also been stated in the media that the Indian security officials suspect the involvement of the same group of terrorists that ambushed and killed four Indian soldiers and injured three on December 21 last year in the adjoining Bufliaz area.
3. On May 5, 2023, the so-called People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) issued a widely published “press release” and chest thumped while taking responsibility for the terror attack on April 20, 2023, in Rajouri in which India lost five of her Bravehearts while one was injured. On April 26, 2023, I opined in News 18 that “collateral damage prevention should no more be a priority for our forces. This time around, India’s scale and dimension of retaliation has to be very different from the past.” Yet, that has not been the case in reality.
4. Questions must be raised and answers must be made available as to why the IAF convoy was not escorted and trailed by armoured vehicles, gunship helicopters and armed drones under UAV monitoring. Especially after the beginning of search operations on May 3, 2024, in Poonch for suspected movement of individuals by the Indian security forces.

Unverified reports claim 200 bullets were fired in a span of 15 minutes and that simultaneously AK-47 and American M-4 rifles were used. The unverified reports also claim that the logistics were provided to the terrorists by the locals.

We must focus on some highly significant points here. While the AK-47, weighing 4.3 kgs with loaded magazine, is capable of firing 600 rounds per minute in fully automatic mode and has an approximate muzzle velocity of 2330 feet/second, the M4 carbine, weighing approximately 3.5 kgs with loaded magazine, can fire 950 rounds of bullets per minute with a maximum range of 600 metre and has a muzzle velocity (the velocity of a projectile with respect to the instant the projectile leaves the end of a gun barrel, termed technically as “muzzle”) of 2900 feet/second. M4 has an area target range of 600 metres and a point target range of 500 metres. The AK-47 has a maximum effective range of around 400 metres.

Points that need a detailed analysis by the Indian intel apparatus:

1. When drawing a comparison, the M4 carbine clearly appears to be a better choice for the terrorists as compared to the AK-47 assault rifle, when properly maintained to avoid reported jamming issues faced by American troops during the 2008 firefight in Afghanistan.
2. It must not be forgotten how the irresponsible US forces, with the undeniable complicity of the US government, left behind large quantities of American arms and ammunition as they withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
3. Even if 200 bullets were fired in a span of 15 minutes, reportedly from an elevated point by the terrorists, then it points towards the reality that our forces had 15 golden minutes to respond, ample by any definition, with accompanying armed drones for firing or explosive-laden drones for crashing at the location of the terrorists to effectively neutralise them, under the non-stop UAV monitoring.
4. If the terrorists fired 200 rounds of bullets in 15 minutes, then they were clearly carefully aiming at specific targets, rather than the entire convoy as would be the case in an area target attack. This also indicates that the terrorists were conserving their ammunition and are in for an unparalleled, if not unprecedented, long haul.
5. The terrorists fleeing after 15 minutes of firing is an indicator that the probability of getting harmed physically was less, if not nil.
6. It is crucial for our intelligence apparatus to seriously introspect the logistics and means by which such sophisticated weaponry is being supplied to the terrorists by locals.
7. The locals, logically, can help the terrorists in storing and hiding such highly sophisticated arms and ammunition, carried by the infiltrating foreign mercenaries, uniformed soldiers and/or proxies or even delivered through air drops by foreign forces.

All such aspects, including the existence of the foreign forces, unharmed for over a year, appearing and killing our Bravehearts at will, must be considered minutely by our forces and the intelligence wings.

The reported suspicion of Indian security officials on this being the handiwork of the same terror outfit that ambushed and killed four Indian soldiers and injured three on December 21 last year in the adjoining Bufliaz area only revalidates the fact that an unknown number of highly trained foreign forces are both enjoying their stay in India and killing of our Bravehearts at will. I would justifiably be right in suspecting that the same highly trained foreign forces and its footsoldiers were responsible for the April 20, 2023 terror attack in Rajouri too between Tota Gali and Bhimber Gali along the National Highway 144A.

The raining of machine gun bullets from gunship helicopters assisted by heavy-firing armed drones would have neutralised most of the terrorists, post quick identification of the terrorists’ location/s by the UAV, despite dense foliage. We should also have accompanying explosive-laden drones that can be crashed immediately after ascertaining the position of the foreign forces.

The risk of bushfire will have to be borne by our security forces, unless and until we are prepared to build multiple roads from one end to the other inside multiple forests for easy movement of our troops on war footing, in a topography that is embraced by dense forests like Bhata Dhurian.

Considering the consistent onslaught of the foreign forces with unbelievable ease, we are practically left with no other option than going for the decimation of the source tap in PoJK and inflicting heavy damage to the Pakistan Air Force fleet and bases in other areas alongside the Pakistan Army bases, GHQ Rawalpindi, HQ Ghazi Base and to their paid mercenaries in coordinates well known to us at the time of our choosing. Blitzkrieg is the need of the hour.

The enemy is a reality. They possess ‘trained’ personnel and are well-equipped with logistics, escape routes, shelters stocked with food and medicine, and secure communication methods. The enemy’s priority targets are changing consistently and rapidly, undoubtedly under the guidance of professional foreign military leadership. Indian Air Force combat pilots and technical staff members are their latest focus, aiming to cripple our first line of rapid response – the IAF – as well as the Para Special Forces, who are trained for attacks with both conventional and unconventional weaponry. Even one fatality would significantly impact our combat capabilities, grounding an aircraft assigned to perform CAP (Combat Air Patrol) or strike missions across the LoC, IB, and LAC. The impact of a fatality would be equally detrimental to the Para SF.

The enemy is well aware of the decreased number of our ground forces on the Western front. This attack, beyond any scope of doubt, is also a result of well-planned and coordinated activities from two and a half fronts (the two fronts being China and Pakistan and the half front being the footsoldiers of the foreign forces inside India) and should have been rationally expected during the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

The direct attack across the LoC and IB would automatically destroy the plans of those who would raise human rights sham at the United Nations expecting a wide-scale internal counter-insurgency operation. In a mission-specific agreement with the China-Pakistan axis and in coordination with the ‘0.5 front’, Western powers have already dared to breach the line of minimal sanity, let alone diplomatic norms and civility.

Plans are certainly in place to downsize, if not halt, the deployments of the Central Forces pan-India, including Jammu and Kashmir, which are meant to ensure security during and after Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Make no mistake, this attack is also aimed at reopening the divide among the local communities at the time of the elections.

Eliminating a handful of terrorists is not the solution, even remotely, for reasons well-known to our security apparatus. The consistent smooth operations and escapes of the enemy, clearly active for more than a year well inside Indian territories, are indicators that multiple factors and forces are working to their advantage. This is not only inflicting a heavy loss of irreplaceable lives but also steadily displaying their abilities in crippling our forces before the entire world. This is a time of unlearning the medieval SOPs and adopting a pragmatic approach.

Arya Ghosh is a National Safety, Security, Aviation and Avionics Analyst. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.