SOURCE: IDRW.ORG
Renowned Austrian combat aviation expert Tom Cooper, a globally respected authority on air warfare, has declared India’s recent air campaign against Pakistan a “clear-cut victory,” delivering a stinging rebuke to Western media narratives and reinforcing India’s military dominance in the ongoing conflict. In a detailed blog post analyzing the India-Pakistan clashes that escalated following India’s Operation Sindoor on May 7, Cooper dissected the operational and strategic dynamics, highlighting India’s unmatched firepower and Pakistan’s inability to mount an effective response. His analysis, combined with insights from other military experts like retired U.S. Army officer John Spencer, underscores India’s emergence as a formidable regional power with battle-proven indigenous defence systems.
Tom Cooper, whose extensive studies of air wars span conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, is no stranger to dissecting complex military engagements. His latest blog post, published on May 12, 2025, has sent ripples through defence circles, as he categorically affirmed India’s air campaign as a decisive triumph. “When one side is bombing nuclear weapons storage facilities of the other, and the other has no ability to retaliate left, then that’s a clear-cut victory in my books,” Cooper wrote, pointing to India’s precision strikes on critical Pakistani military infrastructure, including suspected nuclear storage sites.
Cooper’s analysis directly challenged what he described as Western media’s “PR efforts” to downplay India’s achievements. He accused outlets of distorting the military reality on the ground, possibly to align with geopolitical agendas or to obscure Pakistan’s operational failures. His critique lends weight to India’s narrative that its air campaign, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, has not only neutralized terrorist threats but also exposed the fragility of Pakistan’s much-hyped military capabilities.
Central to Cooper’s assessment is India’s superior arsenal, particularly its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and SCALP-EG (Storm Shadow) air-launched cruise missiles. The BrahMos, a joint India-Russia venture, is renowned for its speed (Mach 2.8–3.0), precision, and versatility, capable of striking targets over 400 km away with devastating effect. The SCALP-EG, deployed by India’s Rafale jets, offers pinpoint accuracy and deep-penetration capabilities, making it ideal for targeting hardened bunkers and command centers. Cooper noted that these systems gave India an unparalleled edge, as Pakistan lacked long-range missiles or air defence systems capable of countering them.
“Pakistan’s celebrated missile capabilities—often paraded in military showcases—have not translated into operational deterrence,” Cooper wrote, pointing to the ineffectiveness of Pakistan’s Babur and Ra’ad cruise missiles, which have ranges and payloads significantly inferior to India’s arsenal. He highlighted that Pakistan’s attempts to retaliate with missile strikes were either intercepted by India’s layered air defence systems, including the S-400 and Akash, or failed to cause significant damage due to poor targeting and technical limitations.
Cooper’s analysis detailed the extensive damage inflicted on Pakistan’s air infrastructure, singling out key bases like Nur Khan (Rawalpindi) and Sargodha as primary targets of India’s air campaign. Nur Khan, a major hub for Pakistan Air Force (PAF) operations, was reportedly struck by BrahMos missiles, rendering its runways and hangars inoperable. Sargodha, a strategic base housing F-16 fighters and suspected nuclear warheads, faced similar devastation, with satellite imagery cited by Cooper showing craters and destroyed facilities. These strikes, he argued, crippled Pakistan’s ability to project air power or mount a credible counteroffensive.
The precision and scale of India’s strikes, Cooper noted, were enabled by advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, including the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Su-30 MKI and Rafale jets equipped with synthetic aperture radar and real-time data links. India’s ability to target high-value assets, including nuclear storage facilities, sent a chilling message to Pakistan’s military leadership, effectively neutralizing its strategic deterrence.
Perhaps the most telling indicator of India’s dominance, according to Cooper, was Pakistan’s move to seek a ceasefire. He revealed that Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10, 2025, to initiate de-escalation talks—an action Cooper interpreted as a tacit admission of defeat. “When one side is forced to sue for peace while the other continues to dictate terms, it underscores the imbalance in combat effectiveness,” he wrote. This development, corroborated by Indian defence sources, highlighted Pakistan’s desperation to halt India’s relentless air and missile strikes, which had exposed glaring vulnerabilities in its defence apparatus.
Reinforcing Cooper’s analysis, John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army officer and Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute, praised India’s homegrown defence systems on May 11, 2025. “India’s domestically produced weapons worked, China’s did not,” Spencer declared, drawing a sharp contrast between India’s battle-tested technologies and the underperformance of Chinese-supplied systems in Pakistan’s arsenal. Spencer specifically highlighted the Akash missile system and India’s counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), which neutralized over 300–400 Turkish and Chinese drones launched by Pakistan, including the Asisguard SONGAR and Byker YIHA III.
Spencer’s comments underscored the broader implications of India’s success for global military watchers. India’s reliance on indigenous systems like the Akash, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and its integration of advanced platforms like the S-400, signal its growing self-reliance in defence manufacturing. In contrast, Pakistan’s dependence on foreign suppliers—particularly China and Turkey—has proven to be a liability, with reports of technical malfunctions and operator errors plaguing its drone and missile operations.
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