India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during clashes in May, the country’s air force chief said on Saturday — marking the first public statement on the incident months after the worst military conflict in decades between the neighbours.
Most of the Pakistani aircraft were destroyed by India’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh told an audience in the southern city of Bengaluru, citing electronic tracking data as confirmation.
“We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft,” Singh said, adding that the larger aircraft, which may have been a surveillance plane, was downed at a range of 300 km (186 miles). “This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,” he added, prompting applause from serving air force officers, veterans, and government and industry officials present.
Pakistan’s military did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Singh did not specify the models of fighter jets shot down but said airstrikes also damaged another surveillance plane and “a few F-16” fighters parked in hangars at two air bases in southeastern Pakistan.
Islamabad’s air force primarily operates Chinese-made aircraft and U.S.-supplied F-16s, and has previously denied losing any planes to India during the May 7–10 hostilities.
Pakistan has claimed it shot down six Indian aircraft during the clashes — including a French-made Rafale fighter — a claim New Delhi rejects. India has acknowledged some losses but not on the scale Islamabad has alleged.
France’s air chief, General Jerome Bellanger, has previously said he had seen evidence that three Indian fighters, including a Rafale, were lost. The Indian Air Force has not commented on Bellanger’s remarks.
–Input Reuters
