Operation Sindoor: IAF chief says 5 Pakistani fighter jets, large aircraft downed during strikes

Operation Sindoor

Five Pakistani fighter jets and a large aircraft were shot down in Operation Sindoor, the Indian Air Force chief revealed this morning -- the first major disclosure of the damage inflicted on Pakistan’s air fleet during the massive military offensive.

"We have at least five fighters 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. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about," Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said in Bengaluru.

India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, days after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack claimed 26 lives.

"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," Singh said while pointing to satellite imagery of the terror target.

#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka | Speaking on Operation Sindoor, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh says, "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… pic.twitter.com/1Fzd36DojX

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2025

He also credited India's air defence systems for a "wonderful job" -- specifically lauding the recently procured S-400 system. "The S-400 system, which we had recently bought, has been a game-changer," he stated.

Sharing more details of the operation, Singh said that a key reason for the success was the presence of political will. "There were very clear directions given to us. No restrictions were put on us... If there were any constraints, they were self-made... We decided how much to escalate... We had full freedom to plan and execute. Our attacks were calibrated because we wanted to be mature about it," the Air Chief Marshal said.

He further stated: "It was a high-tech war. In 80 to 90 hours of war, we were able to achieve so much damage that it was clear to them that if they continue, they are going to pay for it more and more. So they came forward and sent a message to our DGMO that they wanted to talk. This was accepted on our side."

Earlier, an official statement from the government said that multi-agency intelligence provided confirmation of nine major camps that were eventually targeted in the operation. "India’s retaliatory action was based on meticulous planning and an intelligence-led approach, which ensured that the operations were conducted with minimal collateral damage," the statement read.