In an era where a social media post or a phone call can provide targeting data for a ballistic missile, lackluster OPSEC can sometimes lead to disaster.
The ceasefire between India and Pakistan continues to hold, even if it is a precarious one.
Starting last week, the two neighbors—both nuclear powers—engaged in low-intensity fighting across their shared border. The spark that ignited the fighting was a terrorist attack in the disputed Kashmir territory that killed dozens of Indian tourists. Days after the strike, India launched “Operation Sindoor,” an attempt to strike back at the militants responsible for the attack.
For a moment, the fighting escalated rapidly with Indian air strikes against Pakistan and Pakistani artillery fire and strikes against India. The Pakistani military has probably shot down at least some Indian fighter jets, including French-made Dassault Rafales, by pairing U.S.-made F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets with Chinese air-to-air missiles. On the other side, the Indian military has successfully attacked several targets within Pakistan.
Indian Air Strikes and Pakistani Operational Security
According to an official briefing, the Indian military has targeted and struck over 20 Pakistani sites in both Kashmir and Pakistan. About half of those strikes pertained to “terrorist linked targets,” while the rest concerned Pakistani military locations.
With regard to Pakistani military locations, the Indian military claimed to have struck air defense systems, air bases, unmanned aerial system command and control centers, radar sites, and operations centers, among other targets. As an example, the Indian Air Force successfully bombed a Pakistani air base in Jacobabad, located approximately 100 miles from the border with India. The air strike destroyed the air base’s main F-16 fighter jet hangar.
The ongoing fighting between India and Pakistan is providing useful lessons about modern warfare. However, both sides’ attempts to practice operational security (OPSEC), with varying levels of commitment, have somewhat restricted information available to Western observers.
In an era where a social media post or a phone call can provide targeting data for a ballistic missile, lackluster OPSEC can sometimes lead to disaster. For instance, in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russian forces have on occasion been quite careless with their operational security, leading to mountains of casualties. Indeed, the single-deadliest incident in the three-year conflict resulted from social media posting and cell phone calls when Russian troops were celebrating the upcoming New Year’s Eve in 2022, and the Ukrainians struck them with M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). The estimated Russian casualties from the attack exceeded 700 troops killed and wounded.
Pakistan Even Leaked About Reading Leaks!
The Pakistani military does not seem to have paid attention to the lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. For example, after the alleged successful shootdown of the Indian Rafale, Islamabad published a celebratory picture of military officers from inside a command and control center without blurring any of the sensitive information in the background. The greatest irony, perhaps, is that one screen contained information on how the Pakistani military was using open-source intelligence from social media and news outlets for targeting and military purposes. Today, militaries can—and do—use open source information for a variety of purposes, and prudent forces take it very seriously in order to avoid disaster.
The fighting between the two countries remains on hold for now. But if it picks up again, expect to see more air and missile strikes.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Shutterstock / Mirko Kuzmanovic.
