Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Saturday revealed India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets during the 4-day conflict in May early this year following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor.
Speaking on Operation Sindoor at an event in Bengaluru, Air Chief Marshal Singh said, “…We have 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.”
According to the Air Chief Marshal, this was the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill.
He further stated that India strikes also destroyed an F16 hanger at Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield of Pakistan.
“I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there…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,” he said.
Indian armed forces also destroyed at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala, including at least six radars, some of them big, some of them small.
Singh also refuted Pakistan claims of targeting civilian areas during the first Operation Sindoor strikes, saying satellite images confirmed there was almost no collateral damage at Bahawalpur JeM headquarters.
“These are the before and after images of the damage we caused (at Bahawalpur – JeM HQ)… There’s hardly any collateral here… The adjacent buildings are fairly intact… Not only did we have satellite pictures, but also from local media, through which we could get inside pictures,” he said.
The Air Chief Marshal also backed India’s decision to agree to a ceasefire, saying once the objective of the operation was achieved we should have looked for all windows of opportunity to stop.
“People got down to their egos in this war… Once we achieved our objective, we should have looked for all windows of opportunity to stop… Some people very close to me said, ‘Aur maarna tha’. But can we continue to be at war?,” he asked.
“The nation has taken a good decision,” the Air Force chief added.
On May 7, India launched precision air strikes on nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under codename Operation Sindoor to avenge the barbaric April 22 Pahalagam attack by Islamabad-backed terrorists.
Following Indian strikes, Pakistan also launched a large scale drone and missile attack on several Indian cities, but strong Indian air defences neutralised all the attacks.
In response, India hit back harder, inflicting heavy damage to Pakistan military sites and warning of even harsher response if provoked further.
Some unconfirmed reports had claimed that India also targetted Kirana Hills, believed to house Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
However, India, including Air Chief Marshal Singh, categorically dismissed these claims.
On May 10, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire had been reached between India and Pakistan, which both countries later confirmed.