In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, the punitive strikes launched by India against Pakistan-based terror camps following the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack, the air around the second-largest air base of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Adampur, was thick with anticipation.
Adampur is the anchor of India’s Western air defense.
The denizens of this mofussil region were used to the IAF’s fighter jets roaring in the sky. Even on the night of April 7, when India launched the strikes against Pakistan, one could hear the Indian fighter jets taking off from Adampur Airbase. The Airbase is just 100 kilometers away from the India-Pakistan border and has been the tip of the IAF’s spear during the 1965 and 1971 wars.
During the strike phase of Operation Sindoor, the base’s proximity to the border allowed MiG-29s to be rapidly scrambled for air-to-ground operations. The base functioned as the launchpad from which fighter jets executed precision strikes on Pakistan’s terror infrastructure.
Following the launch of Operation Sindoor, Adampur was engulfed in eerie silence as if bracing itself for Pakistan’s salvos. The question was not if, but when.
Blackouts were announced for the night of April 8. This was the first blackout to be observed since the 1971 war.
In 1971, the Airbase was a staging ground for the IAF’s defensive operations and for launching deep penetration offensive missions against the adversary. Fighter jets from Adampur Airbase participated in a cross-border strike, annihilating its supply lines and communication networks.
In the previous war, in 1965, Pakistan orchestrated an audacious para commando attack to cripple Adampur. The EurAsian Times report has more about it.
The villages around the Adampur airbase tell dozens of stories from these wars. Pakistani paratroopers were dropped at Adampur in the middle of the village, but the dogs’ barking gave away their presence. The villagers “handled” the situation themselves.
April 7
With sunset, the entire Adampur village plunged into darkness. The silence was broken by a deafening siren announcing an air raid. The announcer asked people to take cover and remain inside. But contrary to the sense of self-preservation, people climbed to their respective roofs to witness what was coming.
What ensued was a preview of future warfare. The sky over Adampur was lit up with incoming projectiles, and the Indian air defense systems were at work.
The Adampur Airbase created an impregnable wall between Pakistan’s attacks and the rest of northern India. Rajat, a resident of Chomu village near the Airbase, told the EurAsian Times: “We were sitting on our rooftops, and it was like Diwali.”
The night marked the first waves of drones, mostly unarmed. These were aimed at not only saturating the Indian air defenses but also gathering intelligence about India’s air defense assets.
Upgraded L70 guns, ZSU-23 Shilka, MANPADS, and kinetic and non-kinetic counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) were to take out the low-altitude targets at shorter ranges.
The second layer was composed of short-range surface-to-air missile systems like the Spyder, OSA-AK, and Pechora to protect strategic installations like power plants and dams across the region.
The middle tier included medium-range SAMs like the Indo-Israeli Barak-8 and the indigenously developed Akash Missile System. They can take care of more distant threats. The outermost layer was made of Russian-origin S-400 Triumf. The Adampur Air Base has been home to these Russian-origin SAMs.
April 8
The night of April 8 was relatively calm in Adampur. Pakistan had unleashed 300-400 drones across 36 locations from Leh in the north to Sir Creek in the West.
Around 36 locations, including military and civilian installations, were on the receiving end. The Indian air defenses, including the mighty S-400, managed to thwart all the advances. India has christened the S-400 system ‘Sudarshan’ after the celestial weapon of Lord Krishna that, once launched, is sure to annihilate the enemy.
While the nights were packed with terror, the people went about their lives as normal during the daytime.
In the morning, social media was abuzz with news that several Chinese PL-15E long-range air-to-air missiles fired by Pakistani fighters had been retrieved. One of these was found in Hoshiarpur, some 20 kilometers from Adampur. The S-400 system forced the Pakistani pilots to fly low, and there were no fighters near Adampur.
In retaliation, the IAF had bypassed and jammed Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems, completing the mission in just 23 minutes, demonstrating India’s technological edge.
October 9-10
Then came the longest night of it all. The air raid siren went off sometime after midnight. Waves of drones, missiles, and bombs were hurled at Adampur. It seemed Adampur was under siege. The air force personnel at the base were doing their jobs, and the people of Adampur were waiting for the sunrise.
Loud explosions and drone whirring could be heard throughout the night. The sunrise happened at 6 a.m., and we were sitting and having coffee.
Suddenly, Ack Ack guns (anti-aircraft guns) could be heard, and then a loud explosion took place, rattling the windows of the houses. At the moment, it seemed either a bomb or an SSM (Surface-to-Surface Missile) had hit Adampur. Suddenly, the normalcy of the daytime was also gone.
There was a second loud explosion in quick succession.
This broke India’s patience, and India launched its Brahmastra (the ultimate weapon) – the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos to target 11 air bases of Pakistan. While Pakistan has been showing a random crater to claim it has hit the Adampur Air base, the damage inflicted by the unstoppable BrahMos could be seen in satellite imagery.
Avenging Adampur
India and Pakistan have fought four major wars in 1947-48, 1965, 1971, and 1999. The two nuclear-armed nations that were once part of one country came to the brink of another war in April 2025.
While the truth is the first casualty in the fog of war, it is clear that India could achieve its military objectives against its adversary, Pakistan.
For the first time since the 1965 war, the Indian Air Force managed to hit the Sargodha air base so hard that its runway was out of service for a few hours. In 1965, an IAF strike package took off from Adampur air base, along with other bases in the country, to strike Sargodha air base.
One of these pilots, flying a French-made fighter-bomber Mystère IVa Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya (called Wings of Fire) was finishing his bombing run.
As he turned back, a Pakistani F-104 Starfighter, faster and more advanced, intercepted him. The enemy fired missiles, but Devayya outmaneuvered them before Starfighter’s guns damaged his aircraft.
Devayya was declared missing in action before he was posthumously awarded the Mahavir Chakra. The sources said we have avenged Devayya after 60 years.
In 1971, the Air Officer-in-Charge 8 Wing at Adampur, Air Marshal Randhir Singh, Vir Chakra, was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for his air defense measures, which ensured that no Pakistan Air Force air raid took place over Adampur during the war.
In 2025, Adampur air base played an important role in repulsing the waves of attacks coming from Pakistan and wielding a long stick to impose punitive costs against its military.
“We managed to show them two things – we can strike them deep and across the frontier,” highly placed sources told the EurAsian Times. What is more, the IAF achieved this objective without crossing the border.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the frontline air base in Adampur, Punjab, and speech delivered with the S-400 (NATO codenamed SA-21 Growler) in the backdrop fact-checked Pakistan’s audacious claims of hitting the Adampur Airbase and taking out one of its S-400 units.
The Airbase is home to the IAF’s MiG-29s, and during hostilities with Pakistan, it was home to many of its frontline fighter jets, including Mirages and Sukhois.
In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, the name given by India to its punitive strikes against terror camps in Pakistan, Adampur Airbase faced a sustained attack in the form of drones and missiles.
But the S-400 shot down every salvo fired towards it. Some of the kills that are speculated to be done by Sudarshan have been Pakistan’s AWACS SAAB Erieye, Chinese-origin PL-15E, and probably Chinese-origin fighter jets in Pakistan’s inventory.
What ensued was a cat-and-mouse game as Pakistan used its might to hit one of the IAF’s S-400 units and cripple its air defense. This was indicated in the way Pakistan launched between 400 and 500 drones in a concerted reconnaissance and SIGINT operation.
The briefing by the Indian Armed Forces officials indicates that the swarm was intended to probe the Indian air defense systems, map its air assets, and force them to activate their radars.
The Pakistan military circled a dirt patch in the base in a satellite image during its information offensive, calling it a damaged S-400 at the Adampur airbase. With Pakistan constantly upping the ante, Adampur had to give a befitting reply. And reply it did on May 10, breaking the back of Pakistan’s military resolve.
The Indian military has not given out the specifics of how it managed to hit the airbases across the length of Pakistan, but one can hazard a guess that its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and kamikaze drones were deployed. India had already used the Kamikaze drones or Loitering Munitions in the opening act of Operation Sindoor.
These drones are designed to hover over a target area, identify threats, and engage them precisely. Unlike traditional missiles, loitering munitions can wait for the optimal moment to strike, reducing the risk of collateral damage. Once they lock onto a target, they crash into it and explode.
