The long-range surface-to-air missiles were the turning point for the Indian Air Force during the Operation Sindoor strikes, Air Marshal AP Singh said on Friday.
Addressing the media ahead of the Air Force Day celebrations on October 8, the IAF Chief revealed that India achieved the 'longest kill' ever, deep in the heart of Pakistan.
This strike was 300 km within Pakistani territory, the IAF Chief told the media during the first such presser since Operation Sindoor.
He said that the surface-to-air missiles proved to be a decisive factor that changed the game for the Indian Air Force.
Without giving out any tactical information, the Air Marshal said that during India’s strike on terror hubs in Pakistan, Indian Air Force had targeted two out of nine facilities deep inside Pakistan. “It will go down in history that the longest kill we achieved was 300 kilometers far,” the IAF chief said. He also termed it as watershed moment for India’s air power.
Also Read: India destroyed 4-5 Pakistani F-16s and one JF-17 jet during Operation Sindoor: IAF chief
In another startling revelation, Air Marshal Singh also said that the IAF downed at least 4-5 Pakistani fighter jets on the ground.
Trashing the Pakistani claims that the PAF was able to bring down a couple of Indian combat planes, the Air Marshal called them "manohar kahaniyan" (fanciful tales). He added, "Let them (Pakistan) continue with the narrative."
On downing the fighter jets, the IAF Chief said that in total, India had shot down 12 Pakistani military planes during the Operation Sindoor strikes. Out of these, five were advanced fighter jets in the air, and around five F-16s that were under maintenance.
What’s Operation Sindoor?
India had launched Operation Sindoor, a high-precision military mission in May as a reply to the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran on April 22. As many as 26 tourists were killed after being segregated by religion by members of The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Indian armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor on the night of May 7-8, and targeted nine terrorist training infrastructure in both Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
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