PM’s ''cloud evades radar'' theory gets defence backing
Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, May 29
The debate over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rather controversial `cloud-cover theory’ continues to rage with the Indian Air Force (IAF) top brass and some defence experts are now putting their weight behind the `theory’.
During a TV interview, the Prime minister as a run-up to the Lok Sabha elections claimed that he had asked the IAF to go ahead with the strike using `cloud cover to evade enemy radars’.
The remarks had sparked a nationwide debate with many experts questioning the PM’s `expertise on a defence subject matter’.
Social media was flooded with tweets, memes and posts criticising Modi for talking about strategic missions without an in-depth knowledge of defence matters.
However, the recent statements of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, commanding-in-chief of the Western Air Command, supporting the PM’s remark have yet again ignited the debate.
"There are various kinds of radars working with different technologies. Some have the capacity to see through, some don't have the capacity to see through [clouds]," Army chief General Rawat said while interacting with the media.
The chief’s statements, too, backed Modi’s logic that heavy rain and thick clouds could have adverse effect on enemy radars.
The debate revolved around the IAF strike on a Jaish terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in the early hours of February 26, when that region of Pakistan had a dense cloud cover and it was heavily raining.
During the TV interview, the PM had said: “The weather suddenly turned bad, there were clouds... heavy rain. There was a doubt about whether we can go in the clouds. During a review (of the Balakot plan), by and large, the opinion of experts was—what if we change the date. I had two issues in mind. One was secrecy; second, I said I am not someone who knows science. I said there is so much cloud and rain. There is a benefit. I have raw wisdom, the clouds can benefit us too. We can escape the radar. Everyone was confused. Ultimately I said there are clouds... let's proceed.”
