New Delhi : Indian Air Force (IAF) chief AP Singh, in a massive disclosure, said on Friday that it destroyed 8–10 Pakistani fighter jets, including US-made F-16s and Chinese JF-17s, during the hostilities in May. Giving a clear picture of Pakistan’s losses during Operation Sindoor for the first time, the Air Force chief said India took out 4-5 fighter jets of F-16 and JF-17 class and one surveillance aircraft in the air.
We have clear evidence of one long-range strike, more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AEW&C or a SIGINT aircraft, along with that five high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class, the Air Chief Marshal said. He said that the 300 km strike inside Pakistani territory was the longest kill ever achieved by the air force, calling it the highlight of the year for the IAF. On the ground, AP Singh said another 4–5 F-16 fighter jets were destroyed as India conducted precision strikes on radar systems, command and control centres, runways, and hangars.
This is likely to have happened on May 10, when India targeted 11 military airbases deep inside Pakistan, forcing Islamabad to reach out to India for a ceasefire. The IAF chief said the details were part of the Air Force’s post-strike assessments. He emphasised that the strikes proved to be a strategic and psychological blow to Pakistan. We made Pakistan reach a stage where they had to ask for a ceasefire, Singh said.
It is a different matter that Pakistan has failed to provide any evidence of its claims so far. Taking a swipe at Pakistan for making tall claims, AP Singh rubbed it in further. If they think they downed our 15 jets, I hope they are convinced about it and they will cater for 15 less aircraft in my inventory when they come to fight again, he quipped.
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