"India Fought Conflict With Pakistan As Aatmanirbhar": Top Defence Scientist

Dr G Satheesh Reddy, former chairperson of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), praised the indigenous systems used by the armed forces in Operation Sindoor - a targeted military strike on terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Mr Reddy, in an exclusive interview with NDTV, said that India fought the conflict with Pakistan as "aatmanirbhar" (self-reliant).

"For any nation, it is very important to be self-sufficient. If a nation develops the capabilities within itself, it will develop state-of-the-art technologies. Also, the enemy has no answers as the systems are only known to India. We fought with conflict with indigenous systems, being 'aatmanirbhar'," Mr Reddy said.

"Sometime back, we were saying the next conflict will be fought with an indigenous system, which has now become a reality. We are technologically advanced, people are proud of our technologies...I'm feeling very happy. I would like to congratulate the leadership of the country for the decisions taken. I would also like to congratulate the armed forces for the excellent operations carried out by them. Our nation is extremely happy," he added.

Mr Reddy, who served as the former advisor to the Defence Minister, said that the India-Pakistan conflict was primarily airborne.

"It was to do with missiles, aircraft, drones, and anti-drones, anti-missiles. It was a perfect coordination of various forces along with the equipment, which played an important role in the conflict," he said.

An indigenous system, developed by the DRDO, thwarted Pakistan's strikes - the Drone-Detect, Deter and Destroy (D4) system. It is akin to the famous "Iron Dome" shield used by Israel to thwart rocket attacks by Hamas in Gaza and Houthis in Yemen.

"The indigenous anti-drone systems, that were being developed, including the D4 - which has both options of kill capabilities (soft kill and hard kill) have been effectively utilised. We could effectively neutralise all drones that came in. Multiple systems, which have been developed, specifically the D4 system, must have been used in a big way to counter all drones and bring them down," Mr Reddy said.

Another indigenously developed Akash missile system was instrumental in neutralising missiles and drones and protecting cities in India when Pakistan attacked. The Akash system - a surface-to-air system designed to engage multiple targets simultaneously - was developed over 15 years by Dr Prahlada Ramarao, a former DRDO scientist.

According to Mr Reddy, it is a very successful missile system.

"It has been very effective against aircraft and other systems. This is the first time we saw it active conflict. We hear that Akash has been used, and it has brought down a couple of aircraft. The whole team of scientists who have worked on the project are very, very happy. A great moment for all of them," he said.

Mr Reddy praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and his push for indigenous systems in India.

"Since PM Modi has taken over, his insistence on indigenous system development has paved the way for a lot of systems to be developed and inducted. Today, indigenous content in the armed forces is more than 65 per cent, which we have never seen. I would also like to appreciate our industry in this - specifically the start-ups who have developed varieties of drones, drone-based systems, and anti-drone systems. They have also played an important role in this operation," he said.