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Pakistan pulled off a dramatic electronic strike in space, when its armed forces jammed an Indian military communications satellite for over three hours. This move reduced New Delhi’s real-time battlefield monitoring and secure links in a bold first for the space warfare scene of South Asia.
Electronic Warfare in Space? Here’s What Went Down
In a coordinated campaign spearheaded by Pakistan’s Strategic Command, ground stations beamed high-power interference drowned out Indian control signals and data streams.
Military officials confirmed that the jamming persisted for more than three hours, forcing India to reroute critical intelligence through slower, terrestrial networks and grounding key drone patrols along the Line of Control.
This marks the first publicly acknowledged instance of one nation in South Asia neutralizing an adversary’s military spacecraft. By severing India’s satellite link, Pakistan gained a temporary edge in electronic warfare (EW) and reconnaissance, blinding Indian command posts and delaying retaliatory drone sorties.
The Arsenal Behind the Operation
Experts attribute the success to Pakistan’s advanced EW capabilities, including:
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Al Fateh Missile Integration: EW pods on Fatah-II medium-range missiles that can blanket wide swaths of spectrum with broadband noise.
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GIDS Spider Anti-Drone System: Locally developed CUAS units capable of jamming UAV control and GPS signals beyond 10 km, showing Pakistan’s homegrown EW progress.
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AM-350S AESA Radar: Pakistan’s new S-band radar with frequency-hopping and side-lobe suppression, ensuring resilient detection and jamming resistance.
Indian & International Response
Indian military spokespeople reported “unexplained anomalies” in satellite telemetry during border clashes but publicly dismissed them as technical glitches. Analysts suggest the blackout forced India to rely on vulnerable ground relays, increasing latency and risk of interception, no less than an embarrassment for New Delhi’s space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) ambitions.
While United States has urged restraint, calling space electronic warfare as “setting dangerous precedents,” China and Turkey reportedly stand with Pakistan, despite showing concerns for global security if tensions persist as such. The U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs has called for an urgent session to discuss norms against hostile satellite interference.
