(MENAFN- Live Mint) India downed four to five Pakistani fighter jets including the US-made F-16s and Chinese-made JF-17s class during the military confilct between between the two neibouring countries in May, Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Amar Preet Singh said on Friday, 3 October.

The IAF chief, speaking at the 93rd Air Force Day celebrations , also dismissed claims about Indian jets being destroyed as manohar kahaniyan (fascinating tales) calling them Pakistani propaganda to mislead its citizens.

Pakistan's losses included radars, command and control centres, runways and hangars.

“...As far as Pakistan's losses are concerned...we have struck a large number of their airfields and we struck a large number of installations...Because of these strikes, radars at least four places, command and control centres at two places, runways of course damaged at two places, then three of their hangars in three different stations have been damaged...we have signs of one C-130 class of aircraft...and at least 4 to 5 fighter aircraft, most likely F-16, because that place happened to be F-16 with whatever was under maintenance at that time.”

Also Read | 'Operation Sindoor...': PM Modi after India's victory over Pak in Asia Cup final

The IAF chief said IAF targeted several Pakistani airbases , damaging radars, command centres, runways, hangars, and a surface-to-air missile system. He added that a C-130-class aircraft and possibly a high-value surveillance aircraft were also hit during the operation.

"Along with that, one SAM system has been destroyed...We have clear evidence of one long-range strike, which I talked about more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AEW&C or a significant aircraft, along with that five high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF 17 class this is what our system tells us," Singh said.

The IAF chief said that during Operation Sindoor, the IAF's advanced long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) prevented Pakistan from operating even within its own territory up to a certain range.

Operation Sindoor, India's precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, was launched on May 7 in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack in which 29 people, mostly tourists were killed in Kashmir's Baisaran tourist meadow on April 22.

Singh said the operation marked a historic achievement with the longest successful missile strike of over 300 kilometres, which significantly limited Pakistan's actions.

Also Read | Historic farewell: IAF's MIG-21 takes final flight after 6 decades of service

"Our long-range SAMs that we had procured recently and operationalised. We could look deep inside their territory. We could make sure that they were not able to operate even within their territory up to a certain distance. It will go down in history that longest kill that we achieved of more than 300 kilometres by that. And it seriously curtailed their activities," Singh said.

(With agency inputs)

MENAFN03102025007365015876ID1110145749