Satellite Images Show Sargodha Runway Still Under Repair 16 Months After Op Sindoor
Satellite imagery shows ongoing reconstruction at PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha, where IAF strikes during Operation Sindoor cratered the main runway in May 2025.
New high-resolution satellite imagery indicates that repair work is still underway at the main runway of Pakistan Air Force Base Mushaf in Sargodha, more than sixteen months after it was struck by the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor.
The base lies roughly 172 km northwest of Lahore and about 200 km west of the India-Pakistan border, near Amritsar.
Fresh excavation at crater site
An image dated September 12, 2026, shows a dark, irregular patch of disturbed pavement and earth beside the junction of the runway and a taxi-track — distinct in colour and texture from the surrounding asphalt and consistent with fresh excavation or resurfacing. A red vehicle is parked at the edge of the patch.
The crater at this intersection had earlier been filled with repair patches. It has now been reopened, with the previous patch excavated down to the subgrade level, apparently in preparation for full-depth reconstruction. Analysts say this could point to problems with the initial repair, such as surface uplift, unevenness, settlement or underlying structural weakness, requiring the affected section to be removed.
Sequential resurfacing along the runway
The same image shows signs of ongoing, sequential resurfacing along the length of the runway. One section has a darker, smoother surface and appears complete, while the other half does not appear fully cured or cleaned.
An image from August 28 this year had shown the original strike site apparently repaired, though a visible resurfacing patch suggested disturbed earth underneath rather than a surface solid enough to bear aircraft operations. That section is now being reworked.
The May 2025 strikes
Satellite imagery from May 10, 2025, showed the impact of two precise Indian Air Force hits along the length of the primary 3,200-metre runway at the base. Analysts say the blast crater at the intersection was 8-9 metres wide and 4-5 metres deep, with ejected asphalt and concrete fragments scattered around and several ground vehicles positioned near the site. A second strike site on the runway lies 660 metres away.
The Indian Air Force has not commented on the weapons used at Mushaf, but the diameter and depth of the crater appear consistent with the use of the air-launched BrahMos air-to-surface missile, fired from a Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft.
On May 10, 2025, the IAF targeted ten Pakistani air bases, radars and surface-to-air missile units. Mushaf airbase in Sargodha was hit between 10 am and 12 pm. The IAF also claims to have shot down either a PAF Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft or an intelligence-gathering aircraft that day.
At 3:35 pm the same day, Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations phoned his Indian counterpart and called for a ceasefire. The ceasefire, which ended what has been described as the 88-hour India-Pakistan war, officially took effect at 5 pm. Sporadic attacks continued for the next 48 hours before fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbours came to a halt.
Air Marshal AK Bharti (retired), who was the IAF's Director General of Air Operations during Operation Sindoor, said the runway centreline was struck from more than 300 km away, calling it a demonstration of Indian Air Force precision. He added that the Sargodha runway remains under repair even after sixteen months.