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Operation Vijay (1999) · May – July 1999Operation Blue Star · 1–8 June 1984Operation Vijay (1961) · 18–19 December 1961Operation Sindoor · 7–10 May 2025Operation Bandar · 26 February 2019Operation Polo · 13–18 September 1948Operation Meghdoot · 13 April 1984 — presentOperation Trident · 4–5 December 1971Operation Pawan · 1987 – 1990Operation Safed Sagar · 26 May – 26 July 1999Operation Python · 8–9 December 1971Operation Cactus · 3–4 November 1988Operation Ganga · February – March 2022Operation Parakram · December 2001 – October 2002Operation Sankalp · June 2019 — presentOperation Raahat · April 2015Operation Talwar · May – July 1999Operation Devi Shakti · August 2021Operation Kaveri · April – May 2023Operation Maitri · April – May 2015All 20 operationsIndian Army · Service Before SelfIndian Navy · May the Lord of the Oceans be Auspicious Unto UsIndian Air Force · Touch the Sky with Glory163 platforms catalogued63% built in India22 systems inducting or in development18 supplier countries
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CombatNavy#8 of 20

Operation Trident

Missile boats struck Karachi and lit a fuel-tank fire that burned for seven days.

Dates
4–5 December 1971
Theatre
Karachi harbour
Services
Navy

Summary

Operation Trident was an offensive operation launched by the Indian Navy on Pakistan's port city of Karachi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Operation Trident saw the first use of anti-ship missiles in combat in the region. The operation was conducted on the night of 4–5 December and inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels and facilities.

Objective

Attack shipping and harbour installations at Karachi with missile boats, at the opening of the 1971 war.

Outcome

Three Vidyut-class boats sank a destroyer and a minesweeper and set the Kemari oil depot alight. India lost nothing. 4 December is observed as Navy Day.

The first missile attack of its kind

The Osa-class boats were built for coastal defence and had neither the range nor the endurance for a strike on Karachi. They were towed most of the way, attacked at night on the assumption that the defenders would read the radar returns as aircraft, and left before the harbour understood what it had been hit by. It was the first use of anti-ship missiles in the region.