NEW DELHI: Pakistan deployed spies and activated sleeper cells inside India in an attempt to locate S-400 air defence systems during Operation Sindoor, Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra has claimed. He said that Islamabad used “every trick in the book” to identify the location of the systems.Mishra, in an interview with the news agency ANI, said Pakistan considered S-400 its biggest threat after repeated instances of Pakistani aerial assets being intercepted by the system. He claimed Pakistani efforts to locate the air defence systems involved satellite support from other countries, air intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities.“They had deployed spies within our country, activated their sleeper cell within our country to find out where the S-400 is,” Mishra said, while describing Pakistan's efforts to track the system during the conflict.He also indicated that Islamabad may have received satellite assistance from another country, but declined to name it.“They were using satellite help from other nations. I don't want to use the name of the country,” Mishra said.

Mishra added that the Adampur Air Force Station came under particularly heavy attack because Pakistan believed it was associated with the deployment of India's S-400 systems.During Operation Sindoor, the S-400 demonstrated its long-range strike capability by bringing down a large Pakistani aircraft at a distance of more than 300 km, according to the Air Force.

The system was also credited with engaging multiple aerial threats during the hostilities.With the delivery of fourth S-400 system, the Air Force has expanded the geographical area covered by the air-defence network, further strengthening its ability to protect critical military and strategic assets.The S-400's combination of long-range detection, multiple interceptor options and ability to engage different categories of aerial threats makes it one of the most important components of India's layered air-defence system.