I binge-watched Operation Safed Sagar over the weekend.
And I want to say thank you to everyone who had a hand in making this series & to Netflix for commissioning it.
For many reasons…
Because, despite some reviewers cribbing about inconsistent CGI & performances that could have been better, I found the actors competent and credible. More importantly, I was moved and inspired by the story & the emotions underlying it.
Because I wish that, when I was growing up, we had had more films like this, recording the feats of our armed forces in the many conflicts we have experienced, in a gritty and convincingly realistic manner.
Instead, we grew up on a diet of Hollywood war movies which, despite often taking enormous liberties with historical accuracy, helped build American pride & self-belief while we watched as envious bystanders.
Because, even though I knew a great amount about the courage of soldiers like Vikram Batra and the role of the Bofors gun in Kargil, I confess I knew far too little about the critical role played by the Indian Air Force.
And I certainly didn’t know that, apart from extraordinary valour, Operation Safed Sagar showcased the ingenuity & rapid improvisation that we now celebrate as a hallmark of Indian innovation.
The IAF acquired handheld GPS receivers, put them into MiGs & used them to calculate release points for ordinary “dumb” bombs. They conducted hurried trials, initially got disappointing results, refined the technique within a handful of sorties & took it into combat almost immediately.
The Mirage story, dealt with more briefly in the series, was equally remarkable. The IAF had Mirage 2000s, Israeli Litening laser-designation pods and Paveway II guidance kits, but had not yet turned that combination into an established combat capability. When a required component could not be obtained from abroad due to the 1998 sanctions, IAF technicians displayed what I call ‘denial-driven innovation’ & engineered the solution themselves!
So at a time when we are debating whether human intelligence will increasingly become a slave to machine intelligence, it’s incredibly valuable to be reminded that even in battle, where decisions are made in seconds & lives depend upon them, it’s ultimately the humans behind the machines who make the difference.
I hope as many people as possible watch this series.
Because when the men and women of our armed forces know that we know their stories & remember their sacrifices, they also know that their courage will not be forgotten.
The heroes of Operation Safed Sagar are my #MondayMotivation.
With a special salute to Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja. 🇮🇳
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