During a press conference held yesterday, Indian military authorities gathered to answer questions about the recent air offensive against Pakistan, which is part of the so-called Operation Sindoor launched by New Delhi on May 7. There, the Director General of Air Operations (DGAO), Air Marshal Awadesh Kumar Bharti, stated that “losses are part of combat,” adding that the objectives of the attacks were achieved and that the pilots are back home.
In his own words: “We are in a combat scenario, and losses are part of combat. The question you should be asking is: did we achieve our objective of decimating the terrorist camps? And the answer is a resounding yes. The results are visible to the whole world (…) As for the details, what they might have been… how many… what platform we lost… at this time I would not like to comment, because we are still in a combat situation. If I were to say anything, it would only be to the adversary’s advantage. Therefore, we don’t want to give them any edge at this moment.”
It is worth recalling that the Indian Air Force carried out a significant series of airstrikes against what it has labeled as “terrorist positions,” including more than twenty precision bombings conducted against nine Pakistani targets in the early hours of the aforementioned Operation Sindoor. In addition, Indian aircraft were reportedly involved in aerial combat with response elements deployed by the Pakistan Air Force, with shootdowns reported on both sides of the conflict.
Although further verifiable details are scarce, it is known that for Pakistan, this has been the first opportunity to assess the combat performance of its Chinese-supplied J-10CE and JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, as they faced more advanced Western-made aircraft such as the Rafales acquired from French company Dassault. In this regard, military spokespeople from Islamabad reported up to five shootdowns of Indian aerial targets, information not confirmed by their counterparts in New Delhi; instead, it was labeled as “disinformation.” Meanwhile, the local government of the disputed Kashmir region reported three aircraft crashes in its territory, although no specific details about the aircraft types were provided.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that the airstrikes launched by both countries reportedly included not only aircraft but also drones and missiles launched from the ground. In fact, Air Marshal Bharti himself spoke about the activation of air defense networks to counter waves of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles and loitering munitions, preventing them from reaching their intended targets within Indian territory.
*Images used for illustrative purposes only.
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