IAF chief says India took down five Pakistani fighter jets, one aircraft during Operation Sindoor

The Indian Air Force (IAF) took down six Pakistan Air Force aircraft, including five fighter jets and one large aircraft, during Operation Sindoor, said Chief of the Air Staff Marshal A.P. Singh on Saturday (August 9, 2025).

“We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft which could be an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft which was taken out from a distance of about 300 km, which is the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” IAF Chief Marshal Singh said during a keynote address of the 16th Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru.

This is the first time a senior officer of the armed force has officially confirmed bringing down Pakistan air assets during Operation Sindoor.

“Apart from these (aircraft), there are a large number of UAVs and drones, some of whose missiles had fallen in our territory; we have recovered them. Lot of wreckage has been recovered, which is being studied so we can make out what they did, where they were launched from, what route they followed, what kind of systems they had, what generation they belonged to, what kind of features they had, etc.,” he said.

IAF Chief Marshal shows before and after images of the Pakistani airbase.
| Photo Credit:
J. Allen Egenuse

“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,” he said.

“Our Air Defence systems have done a wonderful job. The S-400 system, which we had recently bought, has been a game-changer. The range of that system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons, like those long-range glide bombs that they have; they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system,” he added.

He also interacted with serving and retired air force personnel after delivering the keynote address.

(With inputs from ANI)