At least five Pakistani fighter jets and one “large aircraft” were shot down by Indian air defence systems during Operation Sindoor, Indian Air Force Chief Amar Preet Singh claimed on Saturday.
The large aircraft was either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft, the air chief marshal said.
This is the first time the air force chief has commented on Pakistani Air Force planes having been shot down during the four-day conflict in May.
AEW&C, or an airborne early warning and control system, is an aircraft fitted with a radar that detects the adversary’s fighter jets, other planes, missiles and other projectiles at long ranges. AEW&Cs also act as aerial command and control centres.
ELINT aircraft are used to gather and analyse electronic signals to gain intelligence about the adversary.
The large surveillance aircraft was “taken on at a distance of about 300 km”, he said, adding that it is the “largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about”.
The Indian Air Force targeted three aircraft hangars at Pakistani air bases in Sukkur, Jacobabad and Bholari, Singh said. The hangar in Sukkur was used by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, AEW&C in Bholari and F-16 fighter jets in Jacobabad, according to the Indian Air Force chief.
“We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance there,” he said.
The Indian Air Force also hit at least two command and control centres on the ground in Murid and Chaklala (Rawalpindi), the air chief marshal added.
The headquarters of the Pakistan Army is located in Rawalpindi.
The Indian military had claimed on May 12, two days after the ceasefire, that the Pakistan Air Force had lost “a few” aircraft.
Singh said on Saturday that the Indian air defence systems had “done a wonderful job” and that the Russian-made S-400 air defence system “has been a game-changer”.
He added: “The range of that [S-400] system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons, like those long-range glide bombs that they have; they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system.”
Pakistan has also claimed that it shot down Indian fighter jets during air-to-air combat. The claims made by Islamabad have not been independently verified.
While Islamabad has not commented on losing any of its aircraft, it has acknowledged that several of its airbases were struck during the hostilities.
India has acknowledged suffering aircraft losses during the initial phase of the conflict, but has not disclosed the number of planes lost.
Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.
The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed in the shelling.
India and Pakistan on May 10 reached an “understanding” to halt firing following the four-day conflict.
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