{
  "id": 1446750,
  "title": "Inside India's post-Sindoor defence overhaul",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/inside-indias-post-sindoor-defence-overhaul",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-17T07:21:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/inside-indias-post-sindoor-defence-overhaul-bigger-budgets-new-formations-and-record-exports/articleshow/133289875.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "India's post-Sindoor defence overhaul was a real-time test of its military capabilities against Pakistan in May 2025. The operation aimed to strike terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, a mission India claimed was focused and non-escalatory. Pakistan, however, accused India of destroying its S-400 and BrahMos installations, while India denied these claims.\n\nThe government's official account emphasized the focused nature of the operation, with no Pakistani military facility targeted. Defence experts pointed out that India's mix of legacy and modern air defence, counter-drone systems, and electronic warfare assets performed well in the operation. Key targets included the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters in Muridke, Jaish-e-Mohammad's base in Bahawalpur, and Hizbul Mujahideen's in Muzaffarabad.\n\nSince the operation, India has been working on long-term capabilities. In August 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Mission Sudarshan Chakra, a home-built system designed to not just stop incoming attacks but hit back at the enemy many times over. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that the DRDO had test-fired an indigenous air defence weapon system capable of hitting three targets simultaneously.\n\nThis build-out includes new Army formations like Rudra Brigades, Bhairav commando units, and Shaurya drone squadrons, as well as the import of more Rafale jets, P-8I aircraft, and S-400 regiments. India is also developing a long-range air defence missile with a hypersonic variant and upgrading its Pinaka rocket system. Cyber capabilities have been enhanced as well, with India facing around 1.5 million cyberattacks during the operation.\n\nThe Union Budget for 2025 showed a 15.19% increase in defence expenditure, reflecting the costs of emergency procurement following the operation. However, experts cautioned that emergency procurement cannot replace long-term capability planning.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}