Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Saturday confirmed that India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, the military offensive aimed at destroying terror infrastructure in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Singh said the Pakistani aircraft were brought down by India’s S-400 air defence systems. In addition to the five fighter jets, the IAF also destroyed a large Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft or an ELINT aircraft at a distance of about 300 kilometres. Calling it the largest surface-to-air kill ever recorded, Singh said one half of the F-16 hangar at Pakistan’s Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield was “gone,” with some aircraft inside possibly damaged.
“We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft… It was the biggest ever recorded kill of its kind,” Singh stated. He explained that in just 80 to 90 hours of the high-tech conflict, India inflicted such heavy damage to Pakistan’s air systems that the neighbouring country realised prolonging the fight would lead to even greater losses.
The IAF also seized control of at least two Pakistani command and control centres—Murid and Chaklala—and neutralised six radars of varying sizes. Singh indicated that there were strong signs an AEW&C aircraft and several F-16s under maintenance were present in the destroyed hangar.
Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, had earlier been reported to have downed several advanced Pakistani Air Force jets, though the exact count was not disclosed. At the time, Air Marshal AK Bharti, Director General Air Operations, said technical details were being verified as the wreckage was not recovered, since the enemy aircraft were prevented from entering Indian airspace.
Singh’s remarks now provide the first official confirmation of the scale of the operation. His statements come amid recent comments by US President Donald Trump, who claimed Pakistan lost five jets in the conflict and credited himself for brokering a ceasefire.