IAF chief details Pak losses: F-16s, JF-17s among aircraft taken out on ground, in air

This is the first confirmation of the type of Pakistani aircraft lost in the hostilities. Earlier, on August 9, the IAF chief, while delivering the 16th Air Chief Marshal L M Katre Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru, had only spoken in broad terms, saying “at least five fighters and one large aircraft” were destroyed, without identifying the make of the Pakistani aircraft.

Addressing the media ahead of the 93rd Air Force Day on October 8, Air Chief Marshal Singh said a large number of airfields and installations were struck inside Pakistan.

“Because of these strikes, radars at least four places, command and control centres at two places, runways of course (were) damaged at two places. Then, three of their hangars in three different stations have been damaged,” he said.

In those hangars as well as on the tarmac, he said, there were signs that one C-130 aircraft, one AEW&C aircraft and at least four to five fighter aircraft, most likely F-16s, and one SAM system were destroyed.

He said that while these were destroyed on the ground, there was clear evidence of long-range Indian strikes, including one of more than 300 km, destroying either an AEW&C or a SIGINT aircraft, along with five fighters of the F-16 and JF-17 class.

While he did not mention any losses on the Indian side, senior military officers have, in the past, acknowledged that the IAF lost an unspecified number of aircraft during the operation. The government has neither confirmed nor denied these reports.

Responding to Pakistan’s claims about Indian losses, the IAF chief said, “Their (Pakistani) narrative is ‘Manohar Kahaniyan’. Let them be happy, after all, they also have to show something to their audience to save their reputation. That doesn’t matter to me.”

“If they think they shot down 15 of my jets, let them think… I hope they are 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?”

“Even today, I won’t say anything about what happened, how much damage was done, how it happened, because let them find out… 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,” he said.

Asked about plans to procure more S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia in view of its performance during the hostilities with Pakistan, Air Chief Marshal Singh said it performed well and “there’s a requirement to have more such” weapon systems.

“…There is no limit to numbers that you can buy. Again, I am keeping quiet on what the plan is… It has proved to be a good weapon system. We have our own system also developing, so we will take a call on that,” he said.

Because of “our long-range SAMs, that we had procured recently and operationalised, we could look deep inside their territory,” he said.

“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 as the longest kill… of more than 300 km… with that. And it seriously curtailed their activities,” he said.

On whether the IAF was considering buying the Russian fifth-generation fighter Su-57, he said all options will have to be weighed. “We, in the Defence Ministry and in the Indian Air Force, have a very set process of induction of any weapon system, and that process will be followed. So, what comes will depend on what meets the requirement and what is best for us,” he said.

Asked about plans to procure 114 Rafale fighter aircraft as an emergency requirement given the IAF’s dwindling fighter squadron strength, he said, “It is one of the options that is available… We had already done our own homework in terms of the earlier MMRCA contract. In that, among those candidates, we have found Rafale to be the best aircraft suited for us.”

“Any aircraft of that class is what is required immediately. Now, whether it is Rafale or something else, it really doesn’t matter, but yes, Rafale is easy to absorb. So whichever design house is ready to come up with the proposal to ‘Make in India’, to give us technology, give us more freedom, I think that design house should be chosen.”

Responding to a query on the IAF’s stand on the creation of theatre commands and the differing views of the services, he said joint structures are necessary, but discussions are underway on which structure is needed.

“There are discussions going on. Of course, if you do not have different opinions, we would never reach the best. If we just say yes, yes, yes to everything, we will not reach the best. We have to achieve the best structure possible, for which discussions are mandatory,” he said.

According to the IAF chief, there is a need for India to devise its own joint structures based on experiences, and the final structure decided should be the one that is capable of delivering joint planning and joint action better than the existing structures today.

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