India’s S-400 air defence system shot down at least five jets of the Pakistani air force during Operation Sindoor, said Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh. While speaking at the Air Marshal Katre Annual Lecture in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Indian Air Force chief lauded India’s effort during the four-day military escalation against Pakistan.
Air Chief Marshal Singh emphasised that the Pakistani fighter aircraft were shot down at a range of 300 km. He also mentioned that some parked F-16 fighter jets of the Pakistani air force stationed in Jacobabad were also destroyed by the IAF.
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“Our air defence systems have done a wonderful job. The S-400 system, which we had recently bought, has been a game-changer. The range of that system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons like those long-range glide bombs that they have; they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system,” Singh said at the Saturday event.
‘Largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill’
Apart from the jets, the IAF chief noted that the S-400 defence system also shot down one AEW&C/ELINT aircraft at long range during the Indian mission which took place two weeks after the devastating Pahalgam terror attacks.
“We have at least five confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres,” ACM Singh said. “This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he added.
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During the lecture, the IAF chief also confirmed strikes on key Pakistani air bases. “Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield, one of the major airfields that was attacked. Here, there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have been damaged there,” he stated.
Singh noted that the Indian Air Force was able to destroy “at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala… At least six radars, some of them big, some of them small… We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance there.”
Defence analysts previously said that Pakistani losses in fighter jets, including fighters, radars, command centres, and critical surveillance assets, could significantly weaken the Pakistan Air Force’s operational readiness.
What makes the IAF chief’s proclamation significant is the fact that this is the first official confirmation from the highest rank of the Indian Air Force on the scale of Pakistani losses during Operation Sindoor.
ANI Agency Inputs
Agency
