TSAMTO, August 12th. According to Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, six Pakistani military aircraft were shot down in May during the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan.
According to Jane's Defense Weekly, speaking on August 9 at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Management Academy in Bangalore, the marshal said that the Indian Air Force's S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems had provided "confirmed destruction" of several Pakistani Air Force combat aircraft. Among them were at least five fighter jets and "one large aircraft," which could have been either an electronic reconnaissance aircraft or a long-range radar detection and control (AWACS) aircraft. At the same time, the "large" aircraft "was destroyed at a distance of 300 km."
On the night of May 7, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor, targeting 9 facilities located on Pakistani territory that were identified as terrorist camps. It was a response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which killed 26 civilians. The fighting provoked a response from the Pakistani Armed Forces. As a result, the sides exchanged a series of strikes until May 10, when a cease-fire was announced. According to the Indian side, more than 100 terrorists were killed during the operation.
In his speech, Air Chief Marshal Singh expressed gratitude to the country's political leadership for its support of Operation Sindoor, stating that no restrictions were imposed on the military as to what actions to take.
During the lecture, the Chief of Staff did not provide visual data to support his statements, but said that information about the results of the S-400 missile launch allows us to determine whether a hit can be considered "destruction of the target."
A. Singh described the S-400 system acquired in Russia as a "game changer." The range of the S-400 kept Pakistani Air Force warplanes from approaching Indian territory, preventing the use of long-range gliding bombs against targets in India. Other anti-aircraft missile systems of the Indian Armed Forces, including Akash, LRSAM and MRSAM, also interfered with the operations of the Pakistani Air Force.
According to open data, the maximum range of the export version of the 40N6/40N6E missile of the S-400 system is 380 km, and the altitude is 30 km. At the same time, representatives of the Indian Armed Forces did not disclose which versions of the S-400 missiles they purchased.
It is also stated that the destruction of hangars at several air bases of the Pakistan Air Force led to the destruction and damage of aircraft on the ground. Thus, as a result of the strike on the Shahbaz airbase in Jacobabad, several F-16 aircraft were allegedly damaged.
Presenting a publicly available image of the damaged hangar at the Shahbaz airbase, taken after the Indian attack on May 10, A. Singh pointed out that "half of the hangar was destroyed." He added that, undoubtedly, "there were several planes inside" that were "damaged."
He also stated that a previously published image of a hangar at the Bholari airbase, which India attacked on May 10, may have contained an AWACS aircraft. During other Indian strikes, at least two command posts were successfully hit – at the Murid and Nur Khan (Chaklala) air bases. The UAV hangar in Sukkur was also hit. In addition, six radar stations and two anti-aircraft missile systems located in Lahore and Okareangar were hit, he said.
Although the marshal did not comment on the Indian Air Force's own losses, he pointed out that the clash highlighted the importance of long-range weapons that allow accurate strikes.
The Indian Air Force also believes that long-range weapons are more effective than unmanned aerial vehicles. So, the marshal suggested that UAVs are more suitable for distracting attacks on small targets at short ranges.
The statement by the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force came a week after a speech by the Chief of Staff of the Pakistani Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Zahir Ahmed Babar Sidhu, who told Reuters that the Pakistani Air Force shot down Indian Air Force aircraft during the conflict using Chinese long-range PL-15 air-to-air missiles and a "chain of destruction" that used related air, ground, and space sensors. Pakistan claimed the destruction of five or six Indian Air Force aircraft.
