Partly True: India Did Use Akash and BrahMos in Operation Sindoor — But Calling Them Fully 'Indigenous' Is Misleading
“Indigenous systems such as Akash and BrahMos performed during Operation Sindoor.”
The argument in brief
Claims that India's indigenous systems Akash and BrahMos performed well during Operation Sindoor are partially true but overstated. Both systems were reportedly deployed, but BrahMos is a joint Indo-Russian venture — not a fully homegrown weapon — and independent verification of how well either system actually performed remains limited. The 'indigenous' label is the key problem here.
Why it spread
The claim taps directly into India's Atmanirbhar Bharat — or self-reliance — narrative in defence manufacturing, which carries genuine emotional weight for many Indians proud of the country's growing defence capabilities. When a story confirms something people already want to believe, the instinct to share it outpaces the instinct to check the fine print, like whether BrahMos is actually a Russian co-developed missile.
Social media and several Indian news outlets celebrated Operation Sindoor in May 2025 as proof that India's homegrown defence systems had arrived on the world stage. The claim: Akash and BrahMos performed brilliantly, showcasing India's self-reliance in defence. The reality is more complicated — and the word 'indigenous' is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Both systems were reportedly used during the operation. India's Ministry of Defence confirmed precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and reporting from The Hindu and NDTV indicated a mix of cruise missiles and air-defence systems were deployed. So far, so good. But 'reportedly' is doing important work in that sentence.
Here is the core factual problem: BrahMos is not a fully indigenous system. As Reuters and the Indian Defence Review both note, it is a joint venture — 50.5% Indian, 49.5% Russian. It is assembled in India and India has growing design input, but calling it purely homegrown misrepresents what it is. Akash has stronger credentials as a domestically developed system, but NDTV and open-source intelligence analysts noted that specific intercepts credited to Akash were not independently confirmed.
On performance claims more broadly, the Arms Control Association flagged that Pakistan disputed several Indian assertions, and no neutral third party has been able to verify the specific operational outcomes of either system. Official Indian government statements did not even enumerate which systems succeeded or failed — the detailed performance narrative largely came from secondary media and social media amplification of government messaging.
To be fair to the strongest version of this claim: it is entirely plausible that both systems functioned as intended. Militaries do not typically deploy systems they expect to fail, and India's defence establishment has invested heavily in both platforms. But plausible is not the same as verified. Wartime claims from any government deserve scrutiny, and the 'indigenous' framing flattens a genuinely complex picture.
This kind of claim spreads fast because it is almost true — there is a real kernel of fact wrapped in an inflated label. Watch for nationalist framing that upgrades 'joint venture' to 'homegrown' and treats official government statements as independent confirmation. In active conflict situations, verified performance data almost always lags well behind the headlines.
Sources
- Press Information Bureau, Government of India
India's Ministry of Defence confirmed that Operation Sindoor involved precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir using multiple weapon systems, but official statements did not specifically enumerate which systems performed or failed.
- The Hindu
Reporting indicated that India used a mix of domestically developed and imported systems during Operation Sindoor in May 2025, including loitering munitions and cruise missiles, but independent verification of specific system performance was limited.
- Indian Defence Review
Defence analysts noted BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles were reportedly used in strikes, but BrahMos is a joint Indo-Russian venture, not a fully indigenous system, making the 'indigenous' characterization partially inaccurate.
- NDTV
The Akash surface-to-air missile system was reportedly deployed in an air-defence role during the operation, though independent confirmation of specific intercepts attributed to Akash was not fully verified by open-source intelligence.
- Arms Control Association / Open Source Intelligence Community
Open-source analysts noted that while India claimed successful use of indigenous systems, Pakistan disputed several Indian claims, and independent verification of specific weapon system performance in the conflict remained difficult.
- Reuters
Reuters reported that India conducted strikes using domestically developed capabilities, but BrahMos is technically a joint venture with Russia (50.5% Indian, 49.5% Russian), complicating the 'fully indigenous' label applied in many Indian media reports.