Destroyed 12-13 Pak jets in Operation Sindoor: IAF chief

AIr Chief marshall AP Singh on fri said that islamic republic of pakistan missed as many as 12 to 13 aircraft, including attack aircraft jets such as US-made F-16s and Chinese-origin JF-17s, to the Indian Air Force’s precision strikes on ground and in the air during Operation Sindoor, the four-day military confrontation between the two countries in May.At his annual press conference ahead of the 93rd IAF Day on October 8, Singh said there were “signs” that India destroyed 6-7 aircraft in its ground strikes on Pakistan airfields and another six jets in the air. He also dismissed Islamabad’s claims of downing Indian jets as “fanciful tales” aimed at delivering a message to its domestic audience.This is the first time that a senior military leader has disclosed that the number of Pakistani jets that India destroyed during Operation Sindoor breached single digits.The chief of the air staff also said the IAF had the capability to accurately target new terror hubs coming up in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) where groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) have begun relocating their bases after Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and killed at least 100 terrorists in the early hours of May 7 when Operation Sindoor was launched.The IAF, he said, struck a large number of Pakistani airfields and installations.“What we have gathered from intelligence reports is that on ground, because of these strikes, radars were destroyed in at least four places, command and control centres at two places, and runways damaged at two places. Three of their hangars in three different stations have been damaged. In that hangar, as well as on tarmac, we have signs of (hits on) one C-130 class of aircraft, one AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) class of aircraft...and at least four to five fighter aircraft, most likely F-16s, because that place happened to be where F-16s would have been under maintenance at that time,” Singh said, adding one surface-to-air missile system was also destroyed on ground.Between the launch of the operation on May 7 and the cessation of military hostilities on May 10, Indian forces also struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations.The IAF chief also elaborated on the targets the air force struck in the air.“As far as the air defence part is concerned, we have clear evidence of one long-range strike, a 300-km one, which happened to be either on an AEW&C aircraft or a signal intelligence aircraft…along with that (also hit were) five high-tech fighters between the F-16 and JF-17 class. This is what our system tells us.”Operation Sindoor was New Delhi’s direct military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 people were killed.Singh rubbished Pakistan’s claims of shooting down Indian jets, calling them ‘manohar kahaniyan’ (fanciful tales) being peddled by the neighbour as a face-saving exercise.“If they think they shot down 15 of my jets, let them think so. I hope they’re convinced about it, and they will cater for 15 less aircraft in my inventory when they come to fight again. So why should I talk about it? I won’t say anything about what happened, how much damage was done, how it happened…let them find out like we have. Have you seen a single picture where something fell on any of our air bases, something hit us, a hangar was destroyed, or anything like that? We showed so many pictures of their places being hit. However, they couldn’t show us even a single picture. Their narrative is like ‘manohar kahaniyan’.”To be sure, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan said in Singapore on May 31 that India lost fighter planes on May 7 due to tactical mistakes that were swiftly rectified before the IAF returned in big numbers and carried out precision strikes deep inside the neighbouring country by punching through its air defences. Then in June, India’s defence attache to Indonesia said India lost some fighter jets on May 7 due to initial restrictions imposed by the government on striking Pakistani military establishments and hit only terror infrastructure.Singh said the IAF was fully capable of hitting Pakistan-sponsored terror groups that reports say have relocated to KPK after India’s precision strikes on their bases in PoK.“Obviously, the relocation was expected. If we hit them somewhere, they will have to relocate their bases as they are exposed. We are also getting such news that their hideouts are changing and now they will probably build smaller structures instead of bigger ones to merge with the surroundings. But if intelligence is available, then we now have the capability to go deep inside and target their hideouts accurately. We can destroy them and their hideouts.”These groups have moved to KPK as they believe it offers greater depth due to its geography, proximity to the Afghan frontier, and existing jihadi safe havens dating back to the Afghan war.On May 7, IAF struck two terror sites at Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur and Markaz Taiba near Muridke, while the army hit targets at seven places including Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot, Sawai Nala and Syed Na Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abbas in Kotli, Barnala in Bhimber, and Sarjal.Singh made a strong case for swifter induction of new military hardware in the IAF, including fighter jets and surface-to-air missile systems. He said the Rafale was one of the options to shore up the air force’s combat fleet, speaking in the context of the need for 114 multi-role fighter aircraft to be made in India by a foreign original equipment manufacturer and a local partner.He said in the course of an earlier procurement, Rafale was found to be one of the best aircraft among those evaluated. “Any aircraft of that class is required immediately. Whether it is Rafale or something else, it doesn’t matter. But yes Rafale is easy to absorb (as IAF is already operating it).”Singh said the S-400 missile systems bought from Russia had proved to be a good weapon and there is a requirement to induct more such systems.On theaterisation, the IAF chief said India must devise its own joint structure that is capable of delivering better results than the existing one.“If we can’t achieve better than what we are doing today, then that structure is not good enough. There is no doubt in my mind that we need joint structures for warfighting, but which structures is what we have to really think about…discussions are on. If you don’t have different opinions about a thing, we will never reach the best…If we just say yes to everything, we will not reach the best (model),” he said, in response to a question on differences among the three services on theaterisation.