Source: World Wide Web

[World Wide Web Report] According to Indian media reports such as the Hindustan Times, US President Trump said on the 25th local time that this springconflict between India and PakistanDuring this period, seven fighter jets were shot down and he reiterated his claim that he had facilitated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

On August 25, Trump said that seven fighter jets were shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict. Source: Screenshot of foreign media video

Trump said on July 18 that "five fighter jets may have been shot down" during the India-Pakistan conflict. He did not make clear which party's plane was shot down. Reported that Trump did not specify which country shot down several fighter jets this time.

Conflict broke out between India and Pakistan in May this year, and on May 10, both sides announced a ceasefire. Indian media reported that Trump has repeatedly stated that he facilitated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, but India has repeatedly refuted this, insisting that the ceasefire agreement was reached bilaterally by India and Pakistan without third party intervention.

Previously, Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets, while India claimed to have shot down several Pakistan fighter jets. Pakistan denied losing the aircraft but admitted that the air base was attacked. The Times of India reported in July that senior Indian military officials recently admitted that the Indian Air Force had lost an unknown number of fighter jets in small-scale conflicts. In a recent report in the British magazine The Economist also quoted unnamed foreign military officials as saying that five Indian aircraft were destroyed, including at least one Rafale fighter jet. The report also said that Indian military officials had said that the loss may be due to operational errors by the Indian pilot rather than technical flaws in the fighter plane.

previous reports

India claims to have "shot down 6 military aircraft" Pakistan responded with "no loss"

Three months have passed since the large-scale air war between India and Pakistan broke out in early May, and its aftermath has not disappeared yet.

Indian Air Force Chief of Staff Singh suddenly announced on the 9th that Indian troops shot down five fighter jets and one large aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force. Since this air combat is one of the largest air combat since World War II, the fighter jets used by both sides are not only large in number, but also highly modern, representing the direction of the future air combat pattern. Therefore, the statement of the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force quickly attracted great attention from all countries. However, regarding the actual results of this air battle, the current accounts of India and Pakistan are very different. Reuters noted that Pakistan immediately denied relevant Indian reports, while Western observers confirmed that the Indian Air Force suffered heavy losses in the air battle.

Indian media released a comparison of photos before and after the attack on Shahabaz Air Base in Pakistan

"Shooting down 6 Pakistan fighter jets"

According to Reuters, at an event in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on the 9th, Indian Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Singh said that in the air battle between India and Pakistan on May 7, "we confirmed the shooting down of at least five fighter jets and a large aircraft that may have been an electronic intelligence aircraft or an early warning aircraft." According to him, the Indian Air Force confirmed the results based on electronic intelligence, "Most of them were shot down by the Russian-made S-400 long-range air defense system, in which the large aircraft may have been shot down at a distance of about 300 kilometers, in fact setting the farthest air defense shooting case on record."

Mr. Singh said India's recently installed S-400 air defence system was "a game changer". "The very long range of this air defence system keeps Pakistani aircraft and drones away from India. Pakistan cannot penetrate India's air defence network because of the S-400. In addition to these [downed Pakistani fighter jets], there are a large number of Pakistani drones and missiles that have fallen into our country's territory, and we have found them. We have also found a lot of wreckage and studied it to find out what they did, where they were launched from, what route they flew, what systems they carried, what generation they belonged to, what capabilities they had, etc."

The Hindu newspaper said that Singh emphasized in his speech,"The biggest gain of this air strike is that the air force's primacy has once again been put at the forefront. People have realized that the Air Force is the fastest response force a country has, capable of responding quickly and accurately attacking the depth of opponents." The report mentioned that in response to Singh's speech, the crowd, including Indian Air Force officers, veterans, and government and industry officials, responded with warm applause.

What evidence does satellite photos provide?

The Hindu newspaper said that although India has been talking about the losses suffered by Pakistan for three months, this is the first time a senior Indian military official has officially confirmed the shooting down of Pakistan's air equipment during the India-Pakistan conflict in May. On April 22, a tourist attack occurred in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of being responsible for the incident and launched a large-scale "Sindour" air strike against Pakistan in the early morning of May 7 in the name of combating terrorism. This was also called "one of the largest air battles since World War II" by Western media. India and Pakistan then each claimed victory in the day's air battle. Reuters said Singh did not disclose the specific model of the Pakistan fighter jets shot down in his statement, but he said that in addition to air results, Indian air strikes also hit another reconnaissance aircraft and "several F-16 fighter jets" parked in hangars of two air force bases in southeastern Pakistan.

India's New Delhi TV (NDTV) website said on the 9th that the Indian Air Force fired "Brahmos" supersonic missiles and other weapons at the main Pakistani air base during Operation "Sindour" and successfully destroyed the intended target. In his speech, Singh released a number of comparison satellite photos of Pakistani ground targets before and after the Indian air strikes, many of which were displayed for the first time. According to reports, these satellite photos show that a radar device at Pakistan's Arifwala air defense radar station was damaged by a drone launched by the Indian Air Force; a radar antenna at the Chunian air defense radar station was completely destroyed; many buildings at the Noor Khan Air Force Base, which is dominated by transport aircraft, were damaged in the air strike; the runway of Rahim Yar Khan Base was blown up with multiple craters, and one facility was obviously damaged.

Pictures disclosed by print media

The report said there had been "huge losses" at Pakistan's most modern airbase, Burali, where the Indian airstrike targeted the AWACS hangar. Mr. Singh said there was "probably an AWACS aircraft parked right in the hangar", and satellite photos showed that the previously intact green hangar had been significantly damaged after the airstrike. "It was absolutely necessary to destroy the Pakistani AWACS as they took off to provide targeting information to Pakistani fighter jets, peek into Indian airspace and confirm the type and whereabouts of Indian fighter jets," the report said. Now the Indian Air Force may have destroyed two Pakistani AWACS aircraft - one in the air and one on the ground. This is a huge blow to Pakistan because these aircraft are quite expensive. "

In addition, the report also mentioned that several US-made F-16 fighter jets deployed at Shahabaz Air Base in Pakistan may have been damaged in the Indian air strike. "About half of the hangar where F-16 fighter jets were parked at the base was destroyed."

But it is worth noting that Mr. Singh offered no other credible evidence of the downed Pakistani jet, and contradicted his claim that "Indian forces destroyed US F-16 fighter jets in Pakistan in an air strike". Reuters said US officials had previously said they were "not aware of any US F-16 fighter jets being hit in Pakistan".

Mr. Asif, Pakistan's defence minister, later denied India's claims, saying that "India did not hit or destroy any Pakistani fighter jets". He accused India of "dishonesty" in a post on social media platform X. "If there is doubt about the facts, let both sides disclose their aircraft inventories for independent verification - although we doubt this will expose the reality that India is trying to cover up," he said. "This farcical narrative, crafted for domestic political expediency, raises the serious risk of a strategic miscalculation between the two nuclear powers."

This is quite different from the Pakistan version

Indian and Pakistani claims of air combat losses are diametrically opposed. According to Reuters, Pakistan claimed to have shot down six Indian fighter jets, including India's most advanced legal Rafale fighter jet. Asif said Pakistan had submitted "detailed technical briefings" to international media and independent observers. At a press conference held by the Pakistan Air Force, the Pakistani side detailed the whole process of the air battle on May 7, claiming that the two sides dispatched about 125 modern fighter jets for more than an hour. At the same time, it also released intercepted conversations between Indian Air Force pilots, confirming that the "Rafale" fighter jet was indeed shot down. In addition, photos circulating on social media showed the wreckage of the suspected downed Indian fighter jet. In addition to shooting down the fighter jets, he said, "Pakistan also destroyed the Indian S-400 air defense system and drones in the counter-attack and brought several Indian air bases to a standstill, and the Indian army suffered disproportionately heavy losses along the Line of Control."

Asif said reliable sources, including world leaders, senior Indian politicians and foreign intelligence assessments, admitted that India lost multiple fighter jets, including Rafale fighters, in the operation. Reuters said French Air Force Chief of Staff Jerome Bellanger had previously said he had seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighter jets, including a Rafale. Indian Chief of Defense Staff Anil Johan confirmed in an interview at the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 31 that India did lose fighter jets in the air war between India and Pakistan, but denied the claim that Pakistan shot down six fighter jets. He also said: "What matters is not that the fighter plane was shot down, but why it was shot down." Not long ago, U.S. President Trump said that during the India-Pakistan conflict in May,"five fighter jets were shot down." Although Trump did not say which fighter jet was actually shot down, it is widely believed in India that it was pointing at the Indian Air Force and asked Indian Prime Minister Modi to disclose the "truth."