Bharat Karnad, Emeritus Professor of National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, criticises India’s war strategy and Rafale jet failures during the four-day clash with Pakistan and calls for a major overhaul in defence planning.
In a stinging interview with News Click, Bharat Karnad highlighted India’s strategic and technological failures, calling the outcome both inconclusive and disappointing.
He criticised Narendra Modi’s government for accepting U.S. interference firmly after the Pahalgam incident, as he claimed that India had the upper hand in the initial days of war.
More troubling for Bharat Karnad was the performance of the Indian Air Force (IAF). He stated that the IAF’s overreliance on expensive French Rafale jets backfired badly.
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) used Chinese J-10Cs, Swedish Saab AWACS, and long-range PL-15 missiles, shot down as many as five Indian aircraft, including two Rafales.
These high-tech Pakistani systems exposed the vulnerabilities of India’s much-touted Rafales, which, according to Karnad, were turned into “$250 million sitting ducks.”
He accepted that PAF used smart tactics by firing long-range missiles like the PL-15E from within its own airspace, supported by Saab Erieye AWACS radar planes.
In contrast, the Rafale jets were caught off guard. These missiles travel at five times the speed of sound and hit targets before the pilots even realised they were being attacked.
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One military expert noted that the Rafale pilot had only nine seconds to react, nowhere near enough time to survive.
Bharat Karnad on his official website, accepted that for most of the operation Sindoor, Indian Rafales avoided flying near the Line of Control (LoC), keeping 300 km behind Indian borders.
Emeritus Professor, out of concern wrote that this shows how dangerous the skies had become for India’s most expensive aircraft during operation Sindoor.
If Rafales are being used simply as long-range missile launchers, then critics ask: why not use India’s own Tejas aircraft at a much lower cost?
The Rafale, which costs about $250 million per jet, was once promoted by former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa.
But today, even senior retired officers are questioning whether this was a wise choice. The PAF has managed to create an effective “kill chain” with fewer and cheaper jets, focusing on radar systems and long-range weapons rather than flashy platforms.
He too questioned why India invested heavily in the Rafale when its own Tejas aircraft could have delivered similar results at a fraction of the cost.
The highly expensive Rafale jets, once seen as India’s most powerful aerial weapon, failed to perform as expected during the limited military actions.
Reports from international news outlets like CNN, Reuters, and The Telegraph say that Pakistan’s Chinese-made J-10C jets brought down at least two Rafales, along with a Su-30 and two Mirage 2000s.
US sources have supported these claims, sparking fresh doubts about the effectiveness of Rafale in real combat.
Karnad warned that the operation Sindoor revealed a deeper problem: India’s lack of political will and poor military planning after Pahalgam incident.
He called on the Modi government to rethink its medium fighter aircraft programme and shift towards indigenous defence solutions.
