Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir has once again stepped into controversy by making sweeping claims about Pakistan’s military capabilities that collapse under even basic scrutiny.
While pitching a major arms export package, including JF-17 fighter jets, to Libya’s Libyan National Army, Munir asserted that Pakistan relied overwhelmingly on homegrown military technology during its recent hostilities with India following Operation Sindoor. In a now-viral video, the Pakistan Army chief claimed dramatic battlefield success against India’s most advanced platforms.
“In our recent war with India, we showed our Pakistani technology to the world. 90 per cent of that was indigenous Pakistani technology. Using that technology, the Pakistan Air Force took out Rafale, Su30, MiG29, Mirage2000, and S400,” Munir said while promoting the arms sale.
The problem for Pakistan is that none of these claims are supported by facts.
There is no credible evidence that India lost a single Rafale, Su-30, MiG-29, Mirage 2000 fighter, or its S-400 air defence system during or after Operation Sindoor. Satellite imagery, wreckage assessments, open-source intelligence analysis, and reporting by international media outlets have repeatedly shown that Pakistan failed to achieve the air combat victories Munir now boasts of.
India’s Press Information Bureau Fact Check unit has also exposed a pattern of Pakistani disinformation following the operation. The PIB flagged fabricated visuals, recycled images, and misleading claims circulated by Pakistan-linked handles in an apparent attempt to create an illusion of military success and dent public confidence in India’s defence preparedness.
Claims about downed Rafale jets have been particularly persistent but equally hollow. French defence experts clarified that debris images circulated online were misidentified and unrelated to any Rafale aircraft. No neutral or allied defence authority has confirmed the loss of a Rafale in the conflict, directly undercutting Munir’s narrative.
Ironically, while Munir spoke of “Pakistani technology,” the material evidence from the conflict points firmly in another direction. Recovered debris and publicly verifiable intelligence consistently identified Chinese-origin missiles, drones, radars, and avionics used by Pakistan. This directly contradicts the assertion that 90 per cent of the systems deployed were indigenous.
The contradiction becomes even more glaring in the case of the JF-17 Thunder that Munir was promoting abroad. The aircraft is a joint Pakistan-China project, with core avionics, radar systems and several critical components sourced from China. Defence experts have long noted that while Pakistan assembles the platform and carries out incremental upgrades, design leadership and technological depth rest largely with Beijing.
This reality was openly acknowledged earlier this year by India’s Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance) Lt Gen Rahul R Singh. Speaking at a public event in July, Singh said, “81 per cent of the military hardware with Pakistan is Chinese,” adding that Beijing was providing comprehensive support during Operation Sindoor. He further described Pakistan as “like a live lab” for China, saying it was “able to test its weapons against other weapons.”
Taken together, the evidence paints a clear picture. By branding Chinese military systems as “Pakistani technology” while attempting to market them internationally, Asim Munir is not merely indulging in rhetorical exaggeration. He is actively rebranding foreign hardware for political legitimacy and commercial gain, even as verifiable facts dismantle his claims.
For a country already struggling with credibility, the episode underlines how Pakistan’s military leadership continues to substitute propaganda for proof and bravado for reality.
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