Months before the conclusion of Operation Sindoor, officials of the Pakistan Air Force officially confirmed that during their defensive missions they succeeded in shooting down seven aircraft and one drone belonging to the Indian side, noting that four of these aircraft were French-made Rafale fighters. The announcement was specifically made by retired Lieutenant General Khalid Kidwai, who held a press conference in which he even disclosed the tail numbers of each downed aircraft: BS001, BS021, BS022, BS027.
It is worth highlighting that this marks the first time one of the parties has officially confirmed the number of shootdowns during the hostilities, as until now there had only been speculation from open-source intelligence (OSINT) and anonymous statements by officials for media reports, complemented by vague remarks from institutional authorities of each Air Force. An illustrative example of this can be found in May, when the Director General of Air Operations (DGAO) of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Awadesh Kumar Bharti, stated that “losses are part of combat.”
In line with this, representatives from both forces anonymously told Reuters that the Pakistani shootdowns had been carried out using Chinese-made PL-15E missiles launched by J-10C fighters. Specifically, the Pakistani side pointed out that enemy losses were achieved by exploiting flaws in Indian intelligence, which had attributed the missile a range of around 150 kilometers when in fact it reaches 200 kilometers. This allowed long-range strikes against enemy pilots who were completely unprepared.
Furthermore, Pakistani officials emphasized that the country had successfully established an extensive network of ground, air, and space-based aerial surveillance sensors that provided comprehensive situational awareness to support its fighters. This network was referred to as “attack chains.” In detail, it was stated that China had supplied most of the equipment, which was integrated through a locally produced Data Link 17 system—yet another example of the close defense ties between the two nations. After the conflict, Beijing even dispatched one of its generals to obtain further insights on the network’s performance.
Beyond these particulars, it is also important to recall that Lieutenant General Kidwai’s revelations come as India pushes forward with its plans to acquire a major batch of 114 additional Rafale fighters, with the Air Force’s proposal currently in advanced stages of evaluation. The plan emphasizes integrating India’s domestic military-industrial complex in the manufacturing process. If finalized, New Delhi could operate a fleet of up to 176 Rafales in total, including 26 naval variants acquired to equip the aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. This is a significant point, considering it would allow India to form new combat squadrons—a pressing need as the Air Force is currently more than 10 operational squadrons short of its own strategic goals.
*Images used for illustrative purposes only
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