Pakistan Cyber Warfare: The New Era of Multi-Domain Operations

Pakistan Cyber Warfare: The New Era of Multi-Domain Operations

There was a time when the battlefield was defined by three things: land, sea, and air. Where is the artillery positioned? Where are the tanks advancing? From which direction is the aircraft approaching? Toward which target is the missile headed? These were the questions by which wars were measured.

Then technology changed the very map of warfare.

Pakistan cyber warfare capabilities have become an increasingly important part of this transformation, reflecting a shift from conventional military engagements toward integrated, network-centric operations. Today, defeating an adversary does not always require bombs falling on every military position. Sometimes, disrupting communications, stripping away an information advantage, interfering with networks or unsettling decision-making can produce effects on the battlefield as significant as a physical strike.

This is where the next battlefield begins: cyberspace.

Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos and the Emergence of Cyber Warfare

The conflict of May 2025, remembered in Pakistan as Marka-e-Haq and Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, emerged as an important example of this changing character of warfare. Aircraft, missiles, drones and air-defence systems were all present in the physical battlespace. But alongside them, another form of confrontation was taking place.

A war whose thunder could not be heard in the sky. A war that raised no smoke. A war that did not demand the presence of armed soldiers standing on the frontlines. It was a contest involving data, networks, communications, surveillance, electronic signals and cyber systems.

In May 2026, while commemorating the first anniversary of what Pakistan described as a historic victory, Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu stated that PAF's Cyber Force had targeted Indian communication hubs, power grids and transport infrastructure, describing the operation as a new form of cyber-integrated, multi-domain warfare.

But the real story goes far beyond the question of whether a cyberattack took place. The more important question is 'How far has Pakistani military thinking evolved in its understanding of war?' Around the world, modern militaries increasingly recognise that cyberspace is no longer merely a matter of computer security. It has become a component of military power itself.

The more a military depends on digital technology for command and control, communications, intelligence, logistics, surveillance and weapons systems, the more its strength becomes tied to interconnected networks. This creates an entirely new question for an adversary. Before asking how to destroy the aircraft in front of you, the more important questions become:

Who is feeding that aircraft its information? Which network is keeping it connected? Where is it receiving its targeting data from? And how secure is the vast digital ecosystem behind it? This is the transformation at the heart of modern warfare: a shift from platform-versus-platform engagements toward system-versus-system confrontation.

Pakistan Air Force Cyber Force and Military Modernisation

A cyber expert associated with CASS explained this transformation in 2025, noting that the character of warfare is shifting from platforms to interconnected systems, with cyber capabilities emerging as critical enablers of network-centric operations. According to that discussion, approximately 25,000 assets had been brought under the PAF's cybersecurity framework.

This is where the vision of Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu becomes significant. The transformation did not happen overnight. The Air Chief stated that what the world witnessed in May 2025 was not achieved within a few days. According to his account, it resulted from four to five years of military modernisation. He described the conflict as the most comprehensive full-spectrum, multi-domain operation in the history of the Pakistan Air Force.

In other words: The war had changed long before the war began.

The service had been moving toward a model in which conventional airpower was integrated with cyber capabilities, electronic warfare, space, artificial intelligence, surveillance and data as components of a broader operational architecture.

In September 2025, the Air Chief further stated that PAF remained committed to advancing its capabilities in space, electronic warfare, cyber technologies and other specialised domains. There is an important distinction here. To an ordinary observer, the idea of a cyber force may simply mean hacking a website. But military-level cyber warfare is something far greater. It can involve intelligence gathering, disrupting communications, interfering with command-and-control systems, affecting critical infrastructure, identifying vulnerabilities within an adversary's digital environment and protecting friendly forces against similar attacks. In that sense, a cyber force can become a form of "silent artillery": a capability whose effects may be felt across the battlefield without the visible explosions associated with conventional weapons.

Operation Divine Bytes: Pakistan's Cyber Operations

During Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, Pakistani officials and state-linked reporting described several cyber operations against Indian digital infrastructure.

On May 10, 2025, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported that Pakistani cyber operations had targeted multiple Indian websites and institutions, including the Bharatiya Janata Party website. Claims also emerged regarding access to sensitive databases, including those reportedly associated with the Indian Air Force.

Pakistani reporting further claimed that more than 2,500 Indian surveillance cameras had been compromised. These activities were subsequently described in reports under the name Operation Divine Bytes, which was presented as part of the wider Pakistan Air Force Cyber Force campaign targeting Indian organisations and digital infrastructure.

Other reports claimed that approximately 4,400 information and communication technology (ICT) elements were affected, including servers, computers, websites, databases, communications infrastructure and surveillance systems. These figures and the extent of operational disruption have not been independently established. Nevertheless, the reported campaign illustrates the increasing importance assigned to cyberspace within Pakistan's military strategy. In this context, Operation Divine Bytes represents a reported example of how cyber capabilities, electronic warfare, surveillance and conventional military power can converge within a single battlespace.

And this is where the true significance of the digital battlefield begins to emerge.

Multi-Domain Warfare: From Weapons to Interconnected Systems

Imagine a major military power possessing modern combat aircraft, advanced missiles, sophisticated radars and an extensive defence network. Now imagine that, somewhere inside this vast military structure, the flow of information begins to falter. One command centre can no longer communicate with another in time. A surveillance system begins to lose effectiveness. Critical data fails to reach decision-makers when it is needed most. The weapons may still be there. Aircraft may still be in the sky. Missiles may still be ready. But the network that enables these weapons to operate effectively has begun to fracture. This is why cyber, electronic warfare and space capabilities can no longer be treated as completely separate components of military power.

During the May 2025 conflict, Pakistani officials stated that cyber and electronic warfare capabilities were employed alongside aerial operations to disrupt Indian military communications, coordination and infrastructure. According to the Air Chief, these capabilities contributed to reducing India's operational effectiveness. The independently verified extent of those effects remains uncertain, but their intended military function is clear. This is the essence of multi-domain warfare. An aircraft may be flying thousands of feet above the ground, yet its sensors and information sources may extend far beyond the sky into space. Its communications may depend on digital networks, its situational awareness may be shaped by the electromagnetic environment, and its targeting information may originate from another platform or sensor operating elsewhere.

Behind it all lies an interconnected ecosystem whose protection, resilience or disruption may ultimately extend into the cyber domain.

The battlefield, therefore, is no longer simply the image of a fighter jet or missile. It is the entire operational chain: From sensor to decision. From decision to shooter. And from shooter to impact. This is why stopping a missile with another missile may not always be the only defensive option in future warfare. If a weapon's effectiveness depends on navigation, communications, targeting or external data, cyber and electronic warfare capabilities may potentially create defensive or offensive effects against the wider supporting system. But there is an important caveat.

Claims that a particular missile can simply be hacked and forced to change course should not automatically be accepted as fact. Cyber operations, electronic warfare, jamming, spoofing and kinetic attacks operate through different mechanisms and have different technical limitations.

The larger point is not that every weapon can be remotely hacked. It is that modern warfare increasingly demands an understanding of the entire digital ecosystem supporting a weapon rather than merely the weapon itself.

Space, Electronic Warfare and the Future Digital Battlefield

And then comes space. Cyber and space are no longer entirely separate operational environments. Satellite communications, navigation, imagery, surveillance and precision timing have become critical to modern military systems. A combat aircraft does not fight solely through the eyes of its pilot. It can be part of a much larger sensor network, functioning as one node within an extensive web of information.

That is why a country capable of connecting space-based assets, cyber resilience, electronic warfare and air operations can gain control over something potentially more valuable than individual weapons: the speed and flow of information. Pakistan's stated efforts to advance space, cyber and electronic warfare capabilities within a broader operational framework are no longer merely theoretical.

The full details of sensitive military satellites, their capabilities and their operational employment naturally remain undisclosed. But the broader direction is visible.

Within Pakistan's evolving military thinking, space and cyber are becoming integral parts of an emerging military architecture rather than distant concepts belonging to a hypothetical future.

Modern defence analyses have similarly described Pakistan's approach as an effort to integrate cyber capabilities, electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and space-based systems.

The reported Operation Divine Bytes campaign forms another chapter in this larger transformation.

A detailed article published in June 2026 described the operation as an example of the growing capabilities of the PAF's cyber component and the convergence of digital operations, electronic warfare, surveillance and conventional combat power during the May 2025 conflict. According to the report, the campaign was conducted under the strategic vision of the Air Chief and connected to the service's wider operational modernisation programme.

The Human Element in Pakistan Cyber Warfare

Now, for a moment, change the scene. Imagine the sky filled with combat aircraft. And somewhere else, far from the noise of engines and missiles, dozens of screens glowing inside a command room. One screen carries radar imagery. Another displays satellite data. Another tracks electronic signals. Another shows a drone feed. Others monitor networks that may be thousands of kilometres away from the physical battlefield.

The pilot may see an enemy aircraft, but before that moment, he may already have received information about a much larger part of the adversary's battlespace. And somewhere on another front, a specialist sits before a computer.

No rifle rests in his hands. No aircraft surrounds him. Yet he, too, is part of the war. This is next-level warfare. In this environment, military effectiveness will not be decided simply by who possesses more Rafales, J-10s, missiles or drones. The deeper questions will be: Who can connect them all? Who possesses better sensors? Who can fuse data more effectively? Who has the faster decision cycle? Who has stronger cyber defences? Who possesses effective electronic warfare capabilities? And who has the trained personnel capable of bringing these individual capabilities together into one coherent military system?

Perhaps, for Pakistan, the greatest asset in this entire transformation is not a particular aircraft, missile or satellite.

It is the human mind.

A country can spend billions acquiring modern combat aircraft, advanced missiles, radars, drones and sophisticated sensors. But no amount of money can simply buy a force that understands these systems, connects them into a coherent whole, makes decisions under pressure and adapts to a changing battlespace.

That is where a cyber force becomes something more than a military unit.

It becomes a source of national human capital.

A young person studying cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data science, networking or electronic warfare today may not simply become a computer specialist tomorrow.

That individual may become a defender of a national-security frontier whose borders cannot even be drawn on a conventional map.

The Strategic Lesson of Operation Marka-e-Haq

Perhaps that is the quietest and yet the greatest lesson of Operation Marka-e-Haq. The battlefield has changed. An adversary's capabilities are no longer found only across a physical border. Sometimes, the threat exists within a network. Sometimes, within a signal. Sometimes, within a database. Sometimes, within the information transmitted by a satellite silently orbiting above the Earth. Artillery and missiles still exist. Aircraft and tanks still remain essential instruments of military power. But behind them all, another form of confrontation has emerged: one that cannot always be seen.

Pakistan's investment in cyber capabilities, integrated command systems and specialised technical expertise reflects recognition of this changing environment. The reported employment of these capabilities during Operation Divine Bytes offers a case for further examining their operational role, effectiveness and limitations. The most important question is therefore not merely whether Pakistan possesses advanced combat aircraft.

It is whether its military institutions possess the technical expertise, organisational integration and decision-making capacity required to employ multiple capabilities as a coherent system. Throughout the history of warfare, military advantage has never been created by weapons alone. It has also depended on the minds that employ them. That is a capability no foreign country can simply sell and no arms agreement can automatically deliver. It is also one of the forces pushing Pakistan beyond conventional warfare toward cyber-integrated and next-generation military operations. Marka-e-Haq was not necessarily the end of this transformation. Perhaps it offered an early glimpse of where future battlefields may increasingly lie.

Not only in the skies. Not only on the ground. But within the invisible architecture of information, networks, signals, data and the minds capable of mastering them.