Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh has reported that BrahMos cruise missile strikes had been launched in opposition to Pakistani air bases throughout clashes in early Could, and hit an extra surveillance aircraft and “a couple of F-16” fighters parked in hangars at two amenities. His assertion supplies new perception into the targets of Indian assaults beneath Operation Sindoor on Could 7-10, throughout which the Indian Air Pressure misplaced an estimated 5 fighters in air-to-air fight together with one to 4 Rafale jets, which had been reportedly shot down by Pakistan’s new Chinese language-supplied J-10C fighters. It stays unknown whether or not Indian fighters achieved any kills in opposition to airborne Pakistani fighters, as whereas Indian Defence Ministry sources have claimed that 5 Pakistani fighters had been shot down, the big majority of those had been attributed to the Russian S-400 lengthy vary air defence system, leaving it unsure which belongings achieved the remaining kills. Whereas video footage has emerged confirming Pakistani successes in neutralising Indian fighters, nevertheless, no proof of Indian successes both in capturing down enemy plane or in hanging air bases has been introduced.
Pakistan first procured F-16s within the Eighties, though they had been thought of far outmatched by India’s Soviet equipped MiG-23ML and MiG-29 fighters on the time on account of their whole lack of past visible vary focusing on capabilities. The American fighters had been modernised within the mid-2010s and built-in AIM-120 lively radar guided air-to-air missiles which considerably improved their capabilities and enabled past visible vary focusing on. The entry into service of superior ‘4+ technology’ fighters in each India and Pakistan, nevertheless, together with the Indian Su-30MKI and Rafale, and the Pakistani JF-17 Block 3 and J-10C, has left the the F-16 fleet successfully out of date for top finish air-to-air engagements. The plane’s position in Pakistan’s defence doctrine has thus diminished significantly. America sought to market the F-16 to India within the late 2010s, together with a closely enhanced variant that was re-designated the F-21 for gross sales functions. India’s lack of curiosity within the plane led President Donald Trump to supply to produce the F-35 fighter to the nation in February 2025, though the supply was rejected by Indian officers in July.
