New Delhi: During Operation Sindoor, India deceived Pakistan in such a way that all its secrets were revealed. This operation brought out the advanced electronic warfare (EW) strategies of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to the world.
Former American pilot Ryan Bodenheimer described the IAF’s strategies as “the best spoofing and deception ever”. He attributed this success to the X-Guard jamming decoy and SPECTRA EW suite of the Rafale jet, which deceived Pakistan’s PL-15E missiles.
Operation Sindoor
Operation Sindoor began on 7 May 2025, when the Indian Air Force responded to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025, in which 26 civilians were killed. In this operation, the IAF targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Rafale, Sukhoi Su-30 MKI and Mirage 2000 jets carried out precision strikes using SCALP cruise missiles and Spice-2000 bombs, without leaving Indian airspace.
Pakistan claimed that it shot down five Indian jets, including three Rafales. But Indian sources and international experts rejected these claims, saying that these were destroyed decoys (X-Guards) and not real Rafale jets. In this operation, the IAF’s electronic warfare techniques completely confused the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
X-Guard Jamming Decoy: Technical Details
X-Guard is an Israeli-made fiber-optic towed decoy, which is integrated with the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite of Rafale jets. This 30 kg device is pulled by a wire behind the Rafale jet. It is designed to deceive enemy radars and missiles.
X-Guard sends jamming signals in a radius of 360 degrees, which confuses enemy radars and active seekers of missiles. It fakes the radar signature, making it look like a real jet.
X-Guard uses artificial intelligence (AI), which copies the Doppler shift and signature of the radar signal. It keeps changing the signal in real-time to confuse enemy radars, causing missiles to target the decoy instead of the real jet.
The X-Guard uses Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, which records and manipulates enemy radar signals. It creates false targets, thereby misleading enemy radar and missile systems.
The X-Guard protects against both air-to-air missiles (such as the PL-15E) and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). It keeps the Rafale out of the missiles’ no-escape zone (where it is difficult to avoid the missile).
The X-Guard weighs only 30 kg, making it lightweight and efficient. It is connected to the jet via a fibre-optic cable, which keeps it stable even at high speeds.