Operation Safed Sagar was the Indian Air Force's role in the Kargil War
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Reference sources confirm that Operation Safed Sagar was the code name for the Indian Air Force's military operations and close air support provided during the Kargil War.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO: Bhāratīya Vāyu Senā) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of British India which honoured India's aviation service during World War II.
Since 1950, the IAF has been involved in four wa
During World War II, the IAF played an instrumental role in halting the advance of the Japanese army in…
On 11 May 1999, the Indian Air Force was called in to provide close air support to the Indian Army at the height of the ongoing Kargil conflict with the use of helicopters. The IAF strike was code named Operation Safed Sagar. The first strikes were launched on 26 May, when the Indian Air Force struck infiltrator positions with fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships. The initial strikes saw MiG-27s carrying out offensive sorties, with MiG-21s and later MiG-29s providing fighter cover. The IAF also deployed its radars and the MiG-29 fighters in vast numbers to keep check on Pakistani military movements across the border. Srinagar Airport was at this time closed to civilian air-traffic and dedicated to the Indian Air Force.
On 27 May, the Indian Air Force suffered its first fatality when it lost a MiG-21 and a MiG-27 in quick succession. The following day, while on an offensive sortie, a Mi-17 was shot down by three Stinger missiles and lost its entire crew of four. Following these losses the IAF immediately withdrew helicopters from offensive roles as a measure against the threat of Man-portable air-defence systems (MANPAD). On 30 May, the Mirage 2000s were introduced in offensive capability, as they were deemed better in performance under the high-altitude conditions of the conflict zone. Mirage 2000s were not only better equipped to counter the MANPAD threat compared to the MiGs, but also gave IAF the ability to carry out aerial raids at night. The MiG-29s were used extensively to provide fighter escort to the Mirage 2000. Radar transmissions of Pakistani F-16s were picked up repeatedly, but these aircraft stayed away. The Mirages successfully targeted enemy camps and logistic bases in Kargil and severely disrupted their supply lines. Mirage 2000s were used for strikes on Muntho Dhalo and the heavily defended Tiger Hill and paved the way for their early recapture. At the height of the conflict, the IAF was conducting over forty sorties daily over the Kargil region. By 26 July, the Indian forces had successfully repulsed the Pakistani forces from Kargil.
... Indian response was totally unexpected . The artillery pounding was severe and the intervention of the Indian Air Force unnerving . The Indian Army and Air Force secured a clear military decision with Operation VIJAY and Operation SAFED ...
This important document is the only authentic account of the Kargil War. Against the backdrop of the prolonged and heated public debate on different facets of the conflict, the Union Cabinet constituted a committee to look into this episode. The Committee`s mandate was not to conduct an inquiry but to examine the sequence of events and make recommendations for the future. This report will interest any serious reader, as also those working in the fields of international relations, strategic and defence studies, and history.
AbstractThe Kargil War was a limited conflict fought between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir during the spring/summer of 1999. The conflict takes its name from the principal town in the combat zone on the Indian side of the LOC. Although observers debate whether Kargil constituted the “Fourth India–Pakistan War,” the conflict represented the first open fighting between India and Pakistan as declared nuclear‐weapons states and had significant repercussions for both.
This was a war started by rogue Pakistani military officers without the approval, or at least the tacit approval, of their civilian leaders. Recognizing the limited nature of the Pakistani aggression and the political, diplomatic, and military dangers involved in attacking the homeland of a nuclear power, the Indian's limited their operations to retaking lost territory and avoided air attacks across the so-called line-of-control that passed for a border in the disputed Kargil region. Similarly, the proper governmental leaders of Pakistan kept their air forces on their side of the line and ultimately forced their military subordinates to withdraw. The two main points of the study are that limited wars are possible under the ceiling of nuclear weapons and that the presence of nuclear weapons place restraints on acceptable conventional actions and attracts at least diplomatic involvement of larger powers in conflicts.
vacated Indian positions along the LoC, in what was designated as Operation Safed Sagar (lit. 'White Sea'). The conflict was triggered by the infiltration
The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay (lit. 'Victory'), which was the codename of the Indian military operation in the region. The
The…
The Government of India responded with Operation Vijay, a mobilisation of 200,000 Indian troops. However, because of the nature of the terrain, division and corps operations could not be mounted; subsequent fighting was conducted mostly at the brigade or battalion level. In effect, two divisions of the Indian Army, numbering 20,000, plus several thousand from the Paramilitary forces of India and the air force were deployed in the conflict zone. The total number of Indian soldiers involved in the military operation in the Kargil-Drass sector was thus close to 30,000. The number of infiltrators, including those providing logistical backup, has been put at approximately 5,000 at the height of the conflict.
The Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar in support of the mobilisation of Indian land forces on 26 May. The Indian government cleared limited use of Air Power only on 25 May, for fear of undesirable escalation, with the fiat that IAF fighter jets were not to cross the LOC under any circumstance. This was the first time any air war was fought at such high altitudes globally, with targets at altitudes between 1,800 to 5,500 metres (6,000 to 18,000 ft) above sea level. The rarified air at these altitudes affected the ballistic trajectories of air to ground weapons such as rockets, as well as dumb and laser guided bombs. There was no…
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