Indian air force emerges weak in military operation: French paper

PARIS/ISLAMABAD: After “Operation Sindoor,” conducted by India on the night of May 6 to 7 in Pakistan, the show of force intended by New Delhi is widely viewed by many military experts as a significant underperformance. Despite the bombing of nearly a dozen sites in Pakistan, India was forced to acknowledge the loss of at least three fighter jets during this operation. These major losses reveal the weaknesses of the Indian Air Force.

India was forced to acknowledge the loss of at least three fighter jets during the operation. They exposed the vulnerabilities of Indian Air Force. Numerous conflicting reports emerged on Wednesday, May 7, which were impossible to verify independently. Pakistani military sources, including Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, claimed that three Rafales, a MiG-29, and a Sukhoi Su-30 were shot down by J-10 aircraft.

However, on the Indian side, only an anonymous security source acknowledged military losses to AFP without specifying the aircraft. Based on publicly available images, some experts or officials in Paris think it’s believable that at least one Rafale aircraft was damaged or destroyed. It would be the first time that a French Rafale has been destroyed in a combat situation. India purchased 36 Rafale jets in 2016 for around €8 billion and is still facing challenges in building up its fighter aircraft capabilities.

Throughout May 7, despite triumphant overtones about the success of Operation Sindoor, Indian authorities strove to deny the destruction of combat aircraft and minimise civilian casualties. Several media outlets in the country were forced to remove information about the aircraft crashes from their websites, under pressure from the Narendra Modi government. “If aircraft were lost, it’s certainly a setback. If Rafales were lost, it’s an even bigger setback and, of course, tarnishes the image of the Indian operation. Losing aircraft is never a good thing, but losing aircraft while you’re trying to conduct a planned, rehearsed, and prepared operation is bound to be painful and embarrassing,” said Sushant Singh, a former Indian Army officer and strategic analyst.

Meanwhile, the loss of Rafales is a deep embarrassment for India that was relying on the French jets to face off with rival Pakistan, TRT World said on X. Asian Times quoted defence analyst and an avid PLA watcher Rick Joe stating that the posted videos allegedly from Bathinda in India showed a distinct nozzle screw pattern on the engine which looks like a part of M88 (Indian Rafale jet’s engine) and not M53 (Indian Mirage 2000’s engine). TRT Global in an article stated that the images posted online showed parts of a Rafale’s tailfin and rudder lying in a field, allegedly in Bathinda area of India’s Punjab state that borders Pakistan. The wreckage has serial number BS-001, identifying it as a single-seat Rafale EH.

CNN quoted a highly placed intelligence official who said that Pakistan shot down a Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force and that French authorities were looking into whether more than one Rafale jet may also have been shot down overnight by Pakistan. New York Times quoted John E Pike (Director of Global Security Organization) who stated that Pakistan has surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles which could have put down Indian fighter jets including Rafale.

A report in The New York Times cited three officials, local news reports, and accounts of witnesses, who said that “at least two aircraft” went down in India and the India-Occupied Kashmir. Reuters quoted two US officials saying that a top Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane shot down at least two Indian military aircraft on Wednesday. “Any confirmed downings would not only dent New Delhi’s military prestige but also signal its miscalculation in assessing Pakistan’s upgraded aerial strength, particularly its Chinese-supplied J-10C jets”, stated an article by TRT World.