IAF Chief Breaks Silence: Five Pakistani Jets and AEW&C Downed in May – Pakistan Calls Claim ‘Comical’

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) – Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh has, for the first time, claimed that India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and a Pakistani Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft during the four-day Operation Sindoor in May — a statement swiftly dismissed by Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif as “comical” and “implausible.”

The announcement shatters months of speculation and represents the first official admission from New Delhi of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) combat losses in the conflict.

The AEW&C kill — executed at an unprecedented 300 kilometres using the Russian-built S-400 Triumf system — is being hailed as the longest recorded surface-to-air engagement in Indian military history.

According to IAF chief, this single strike crippled a cornerstone of Pakistan’s aerial battle management network, blinding PAF’s real-time command-and-control capabilities at a decisive moment in the operation.

Singh emphasised that “the S-400 is a game-changer,” crediting its long reach for forcing Pakistani combat aircraft to retreat from contested airspace.

The IAF chief allegation was also a direct response to Pakistan’s earlier claims that it had successfully shot down five Indian Air Force fighter jets, including three of its most advanced French-built Rafale aircraft — claims that, in a rare and highly unusual move, were later tacitly acknowledged by several high-ranking IAF officers, who admitted under closed-door parliamentary briefings and internal service reviews that multiple aircraft had indeed been lost to Pakistani air defences during the hostilities.

Operation Sindoor was launched on 7 May in direct retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack of 22 April, which killed 26 civilians.

The attack was attributed to The Resistance Front (TRF), widely viewed as a proxy organisation for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

In Singh’s own words: “It was made very clear that this time it should be emphatic. We must send a loud and clear message — not just to terrorist launch pads, but to challenge the terrorist leadership itself.”

The IAF targeted two of Pakistan’s most heavily defended terrorist hubs: the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) headquarters in Bahawalpur and the LeT base in Muridke, both deep in Punjab province.

Simultaneously, the Indian Army hit seven other sites near the international border and the Line of Control (LoC).

Satellite imagery and weapons system footage shown by Singh confirmed the destruction of two Pakistani command-and-control centres, at least six radars, two surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW) systems, and critical airbase infrastructure at Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Bholari, and Jacobabad.

Intelligence assessments indicate the destroyed AEW&C was inside its hangar at Bholari Airbase at the time of the strike, suggesting India’s targeting data and penetration capability reached unprecedented precision levels.

Several F-16 fighters were also reported damaged at Shahbaz Airbase in Jacobabad.

The UAV hangar at Sukkur Airbase — a key hub for Pakistan’s drone reconnaissance operations — was also hit, degrading Islamabad’s ISR capabilities in southern Pakistan.

Singh revealed that numerous Pakistani drones and long-range strike munitions were destroyed by Indian air-defence systems during the operation.

Recovered wreckage from these engagements is currently being analysed by the IAF and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to extract critical intelligence on PAF’s missile and drone technology.

The strikes were executed primarily using stand-off munitions, reportedly including the air-launched BrahMos cruise missile, allowing IAF aircraft to remain well outside the engagement envelope of Pakistani air defences.

Singh highlighted that most targets were hardened, fortified structures — a factor that demanded the use of high-precision, long-range weapons to guarantee destruction.

The IAF Chief underscored a broader strategic lesson from Operation Sindoor: “Air power is the first responder that any country has — capable of reacting quickly, striking deep, and doing so with precision to achieve objectives without collateral damage.”

From a military-technical perspective, the 300km AEW&C kill illustrates the full operational maturity of India’s S-400 batteries, integrated with early-warning radars and networked command centres for beyond-line-of-sight engagements.

The S-400’s 40N6 missile variant, capable of reaching targets at 380km, is believed to have been used — marking one of the few known operational kills of its kind in the world.

By eliminating an AEW&C, India struck at the nerve centre of PAF’s battle management, removing its ability to coordinate fighters, detect incoming threats at long range, and orchestrate counter-strikes.

Geo-strategically, the move sends a powerful deterrence signal not only to Pakistan but to other regional airpower players such as China, whose own KJ-500 AEW&C platforms play a similar role in the PLA Air Force’s order of battle.

For Pakistan, the loss underscores a critical vulnerability: its high-value airborne assets are increasingly within reach of India’s long-range air-defence network, forcing a rethink of operational doctrines.

In the broader regional context, this engagement occurred amid heightened tensions along both India’s western and northern borders, with China maintaining a significant presence in eastern Ladakh and Pakistan continuing to modernise its fleet with J-10C fighters armed with PL-15 beyond-visual-range missiles.

Operation Sindoor’s success in neutralising high-value assets without crossing the LoC by manned aircraft marks a doctrinal shift for the IAF — demonstrating that deep strategic effects can be achieved entirely through stand-off precision strikes and integrated air-defence engagements.

Internationally, the operation is being analysed as a rare real-world test of cutting-edge air-defence systems in high-intensity state-on-state conflict.

The implications extend beyond South Asia: NATO militaries, Middle Eastern air forces, and East Asian powers will be studying the data for insights into integrated air-defence performance against manoeuvring airborne targets at extreme ranges.

The kill also serves as a case study in counter-AEW&C warfare, highlighting the potential of long-range SAMs to disrupt modern network-centric air combat architectures.

While Singh stopped short of detailing India’s next steps, the operation is likely to accelerate New Delhi’s investments in indigenous long-range SAM systems such as the XR-SAM and expanded deployment of the S-400 along both the western and northern sectors.

It also reinforces India’s pivot toward deep integration of ISR, EW, and missile defence capabilities — a triad increasingly essential in the age of hypersonic weapons, stealth aircraft, and long-range drone swarms.

For Pakistan, replacing the lost AEW&C — believed to be a Saab 2000 Erieye — will be a slow and expensive process, with potential complications arising from strained defence budgets and supplier constraints.

The strategic timing of Singh’s disclosure — months after the conflict — suggests a deliberate signalling move by New Delhi, reinforcing deterrence without immediately escalating tensions.

As the region digests the revelations, one fact is clear: Operation Sindoor has redefined the Indo-Pak airpower balance, set new benchmarks for integrated air-defence warfare, and provided a blueprint for how modern militaries can achieve strategic paralysis through precision and reach.

Pakistan Defence Minister Dismisses Indian Air Force Chief’s “Fictional” Claims

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has sharply rejected what he described as “implausible” and “comical” claims by Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh that India destroyed five Pakistani fighter jets and an additional military aircraft during the May clashes of Operation Sindoor.

In a pointed statement on X (formerly Twitter), Asif characterised the belated Indian assertions as both strategically unconvincing and politically motivated.

“The belated assertions made by the Indian Air Force chief regarding alleged destruction of Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor are as implausible as they are ill-timed,” Asif stated, underscoring that the Indian narrative had only surfaced months after the conflict.

He further accused New Delhi of using senior military officers as public shields for what he called the “monumental failure” of India’s political leadership during the confrontation.

“It is also ironic how senior Indian military officers are being used as the faces of monumental failure caused by strategic shortsightedness of Indian politicians. For three months, no such claims were voiced — while Pakistan, in the immediate aftermath, presented detailed technical briefings to the international media, and independent observers recorded widespread acknowledgment of the loss of multiple Indian aircraft, including Rafales, by sources ranging from world leaders, senior Indian politicians to foreign intelligence assessments.”

Asif categorically denied that any Pakistani Air Force (PAF) aircraft were lost in the conflict, stating: “Not a single Pakistani aircraft was hit or destroyed by India.”

He claimed that Pakistan had, in fact, destroyed six Indian Air Force fighter jets, neutralised S-400 air defence batteries, and downed multiple Indian unmanned aerial vehicles while “swiftly putting several Indian airbases out of action.”

According to Asif, Indian losses along the Line of Control (LoC) during the confrontation were “disproportionately heavier” than anything sustained by Pakistan’s armed forces.

Challenging India to back its claims with verifiable evidence, Asif said: “If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification — though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure. Wars are not won by falsehoods but by moral authority, national resolve and professional competence.”

Warning of the dangers of false strategic narratives in a volatile nuclear environment, the defence minister cautioned: “Such comical narratives, crafted for domestic political expediency, increase the grave risks of strategic miscalculation in a nuclearised environment.”

The minister’s statement comes amid escalating information warfare between India and Pakistan over Operation Sindoor, with both sides making competing claims of air superiority, heavy losses inflicted on the other, and the destruction of high-value assets such as Rafale fighters, AEW&C platforms, and S-400 missile batteries.

Military analysts note that the starkly divergent accounts reflect not only the fog of war but also the high-stakes propaganda battle being waged for domestic and international audiences — a dynamic that significantly raises the risk of miscalculation in South Asia’s nuclear-armed standoff.