India's air force chief said its military shot down at least five Pakistani fighter jets during a confrontation with its western neighbor in early May. Air Chief Marshall AP Singh said the fighter jets were shot down with the help of Russian made anti-missile defense system — S400. A hangar which housed US-made F-16 fighter jets was also hit, Singh said on Saturday in Bengaluru.
“We have at least five confirmed kills and one large aircraft,” Singh said. The large aircraft could have been either fitted with a powerful radar to detect incoming threats including enemy fighters, or one which is used to detect, analyze or jam enemy radar and communications, he said.
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In addition, a second sophisticated surveillance aircraft capable of jamming enemy communications that was parked at an airfield near Karachi was hit, Singh said. “This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he said.
Singh's comments were the latest insight into the damage wrought by the two nuclear-armed countries during the conflict as they came close to a full-scale war. Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Singh's remarks outside of regular business hours.
The clash was the worst between the two sides in half a century as they traded air, drone and missile strikes, as well as artillery and small arms fire along their shared border. It was triggered by an attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22, where gunmen killed 26 civilians in what New Delhi termed as an act of terrorism orchestrated by Pakistan. Leaders in Islamabad denied involvement.
In a May 31 interview, Anil Chauhan, chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, confirmed India lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in the clashes with Pakistan, without offering specific details. He called Pakistan's claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes “absolutely incorrect,” though he declined to specify how many jets India lost.
Pakistan said Chinese fighter jets were used to respond to military strikes by India.
US President Donald Trump said last month that five jets may have been shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict, and reiterated that his administration used trade talks as a leverage to broker a ceasefire between the two sides, a claim New Delhi had repeatedly rejected.
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