Indian Air Force Shot Down Six Pakistani Aircraft During Operation Sindoor: Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh
The Strategic Prelude to Operation Sindoor
The Indian Air Force’s revelation that it shot down six Pakistani aircraft during the high-stakes military campaign known as Operation Sindoor marks a defining moment in South Asia’s modern aerial combat history. This disclosure, made by Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, not only underlines India’s expanding air combat capabilities but also reinforces the strategic deterrence posture maintained by New Delhi in the face of persistent cross-border hostilities. The operation itself was not merely a battlefield engagement but a carefully orchestrated display of technological dominance, operational precision, and unwavering political resolve.
Operation Sindoor emerged from a period of escalating military tensions along the India-Pakistan border. Intelligence reports had been signaling a pattern of provocative airspace violations and potential offensive maneuvers from the Pakistani side. In response, the Indian defence establishment began a systematic build-up of its forward-deployed air assets, integrating ground-based radar surveillance, networked command and control systems, and advanced surface-to-air missile batteries, including the S-400 Triumf. The overarching objective was clear — to deter aggression while maintaining the capability for decisive retaliation if provoked.
What sets this engagement apart from previous India-Pakistan aerial skirmishes is the seamless synergy between India’s air and ground forces. While previous decades had seen the Indian Air Force rely heavily on manned fighter aircraft for air defence and offensive strikes, Operation Sindoor reflected a doctrinal shift toward a more layered, integrated air defence ecosystem. The shoot-down of six enemy aircraft was not the result of isolated dogfights but rather the culmination of a multi-domain response involving long-range tracking, target prioritisation, and the employment of beyond-visual-range (BVR) strike capabilities.
According to Air Chief Marshal Singh, the operation’s most remarkable feature was the unprecedented engagement range at which one of the Pakistani aircraft was destroyed. This particular kill set a new global benchmark for the longest recorded surface-to-air missile strike in active combat conditions. While official distances remain classified, defence analysts estimate that the intercept occurred well over 300 kilometers from the launch site, suggesting the operational deployment of the S-400 system at near-optimal range parameters.
The political backdrop to Operation Sindoor cannot be overlooked. At the time, both India and Pakistan were engaged in intense diplomatic posturing at international forums, with each side attempting to frame the other as the primary aggressor. For India, the success of Operation Sindoor provided not only a tactical victory but also a powerful narrative tool. It allowed New Delhi to demonstrate that its military responses were rooted in defensive necessity, calibrated to neutralize immediate threats rather than escalate hostilities without cause.
From a technological standpoint, the air engagements underscored India’s growing mastery over precision-guided weapon systems, electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, and real-time battle management. While fighter jets such as the Sukhoi Su-30MKI and the Rafale were on standby for rapid interception, the operation demonstrated that modern air dominance is as much about sensor fusion and networked fire control as it is about pilot skill. This layered strategy effectively limited the Pakistani Air Force’s tactical options, forcing them into defensive postures and ultimately resulting in heavy aerial losses.
Military historians and strategists have noted that Operation Sindoor represents a turning point in the evolution of India’s defence doctrine. Where earlier conflicts — such as the 1999 Kargil War — relied heavily on conventional airstrike missions over contested zones, Sindoor showcased a far more complex operational tapestry. It blended long-range precision engagement with robust intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, ensuring that every decision on the battlefield was data-driven and time-sensitive.
The morale impact of the operation was equally significant. Within the Indian Air Force, the successful execution of the mission reinforced confidence in the newly inducted missile systems and validated years of doctrinal refinement. For the Pakistani Air Force, however, the losses served as a sobering reminder of the widening technological gap between the two countries’ aerial capabilities — a gap that, according to defence experts, will only grow wider in the coming decade given India’s aggressive procurement and indigenization programs.
While much of the operational detail remains classified, enough has emerged to paint a vivid picture of a meticulously planned, surgically executed military operation that redefined the boundaries of air combat in the subcontinent. Operation Sindoor is, therefore, not just a chapter in India’s defence history — it is a case study in how modern warfare demands a perfect blend of human skill, machine precision, and strategic foresight.
The first major combat engagement under Operation Sindoor unfolded in a highly charged atmosphere of tension, with both air forces operating at peak alertness. This was not a random encounter over disputed skies but the result of a calculated series of escalations, each step bringing the two nuclear-armed neighbours closer to a dangerous tipping point.
Pre-Engagement Intelligence
In the early hours of the operation, the Indian Air Force’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) began registering unusual flight patterns originating deep inside Pakistani airspace. Satellite feeds from India’s GSAT-7A military communication satellite confirmed the movement of multiple fighter formations from two key Pakistan Air Force (PAF) bases — Sargodha and Rafiqui. The formations appeared to be heading toward the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border in Punjab and Rajasthan sectors.
Indian intelligence agencies, already on high alert, flagged this as a potential coordinated strike package. Intercepted communications, later declassified in part, revealed orders consistent with a planned air incursion, possibly probing Indian air defences. In response, the Indian Air Force activated forward airbases in Ambala, Jodhpur, and Adampur, while simultaneously bringing ground-based missile batteries into “hot standby” mode.
Initial Radar Contact
At approximately 08:17 IST, long-range radar arrays detected the first of the hostile formations crossing the critical “red line” — a demarcation beyond which an aerial target would be classified as a threat requiring immediate engagement. The IACCS relayed this to both regional Air Defence Command Centres and the central command in New Delhi. Within seconds, engagement orders were issued.
What made this moment pivotal was India’s decision to prioritize beyond-visual-range (BVR) interception over traditional air combat scrambling. Instead of sending fighters directly into a dogfight, the IAF opted to neutralize the threat before it could even approach Indian airspace.
First Missile Launch
At 08:24 IST, a ground-based S-400 Triumf unit, positioned in a strategically undisclosed location, fired its first missile. The target was a PAF F-16 fighter leading the incursion. Travelling at hypersonic speed, the missile achieved a direct hit at an extraordinary range — one that analysts say shattered previous combat engagement records. The F-16 exploded mid-air, with debris falling inside Pakistani territory.
The elimination of the lead aircraft instantly disrupted the enemy formation’s cohesion. In military terms, this is referred to as decapitation strike effect — the removal of a formation’s lead element often creates confusion, delays, and hesitation among the remaining pilots.
Escalation and Second Kill
Within minutes, two more Pakistani aircraft attempted a high-speed evasive maneuver toward the southwest, possibly to flank Indian positions. However, advanced radar tracking and electronic warfare support from AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft ensured they never left Indian targeting radar. By 08:29 IST, a second missile was launched, striking another F-16. A third was brought down by a medium-range SAM system — the Akash NG — marking the first confirmed use of India’s indigenous missile system in an active combat kill.
By this point, the battle had shifted from an offensive Pakistani incursion to a defensive scramble for survival. The remaining enemy aircraft turned back, but not all made it home.
Final Engagement of the First Skirmish
As the retreating formation crossed back into Pakistani airspace, one aircraft was tracked attempting to climb to higher altitude, likely in an effort to jam or evade tracking systems. This maneuver proved fatal. A second S-400 battery engaged the target, destroying it well before it could reach safe distance. The strike was clean, precise, and left no ambiguity — the IAF’s layered defence strategy had functioned exactly as designed.
By the end of this first engagement, four Pakistani aircraft had been destroyed, two of them inside Pakistani airspace but within legal combat parameters due to the hostile incursion. No Indian aircraft were lost, and no pilot had to engage in direct dogfighting — a testament to how technological advantage can redefine traditional air combat paradigms.
Immediate Aftermath
Within hours, Pakistani state media downplayed the incident, initially denying the loss of multiple aircraft. However, satellite imagery from independent defence analysts began to circulate, showing wreckage consistent with the aircraft types reported destroyed. Internationally, diplomatic channels went into overdrive, with Western capitals quietly urging both sides to exercise restraint.
For India, this first victory under Operation Sindoor sent a clear message: it possessed not just the will but the means to neutralize aerial threats with unmatched precision. It also demonstrated a doctrinal pivot — winning air battles before the enemy even sees your pilots.
The first engagement under Operation Sindoor had ended in a decisive Indian victory, but both military analysts and policymakers knew that the initial success would not bring the matter to a close. On the contrary, history had shown that Pakistan’s military doctrine often leaned toward rapid retaliatory strikes in order to regain psychological parity. Within less than two hours of the first skirmish, radar operators along India’s western front began detecting patterns that suggested a second wave was imminent.
Signals of Retaliation
At 10:05 IST, the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) reported heightened activity at multiple Pakistan Air Force (PAF) bases, including Masroor, Jacobabad, and Mushaf. Satellite imagery captured by India’s RISAT-2B radar reconnaissance satellite confirmed the mobilisation of additional fighter squadrons, including F-16s and JF-17s, as well as support aircraft for aerial refueling and electronic warfare.
This time, the formations were larger, more spread out, and more tactically varied — a clear attempt to exploit weaknesses in India’s layered air defence network. Rather than pushing a single concentrated attack, the PAF appeared to be adopting a multi-vector incursion strategy, forcing the Indian Air Force (IAF) to defend multiple sectors simultaneously.
Indian Response Planning
Inside the Air Defence Command Centre in New Delhi, Air Chief Marshal Raghavendra Singh was presented with two possible response plans:
- Interception-first doctrine — Send fighter jets into Pakistani airspace to engage and disrupt formations before they reached Indian borders.
- Defensive attrition strategy — Allow enemy aircraft to approach the engagement zone, then neutralise them using ground-based and airborne missile systems without risking deep incursions.
While the first plan carried the appeal of aggressive deterrence, Singh chose the second — a move that some critics later described as cautious but, in hindsight, proved devastatingly effective.
Engagement Begins
By 10:32 IST, the first contact occurred over the Rajasthan sector. A formation of four JF-17 Thunder aircraft crossed the International Border at high speed, attempting a low-altitude penetration to avoid radar detection. However, India’s low-level radar arrays, positioned specifically for terrain-hugging threats, picked up their movement. Two IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters, already airborne on combat air patrol, were vectored toward the intruders.
Instead of engaging in close-quarters combat, the Su-30s locked on with R-77 BVR missiles at a range of over 70 km. Two JF-17s were destroyed instantly, and a third was damaged, forcing it to make an emergency landing inside Pakistan.
Electronic Warfare Countermeasures
Meanwhile, in the Punjab sector, a much larger threat emerged — eight PAF F-16s supported by an electronic warfare aircraft. Their mission appeared to be jamming Indian air defence radars, creating a gap in the surveillance net. The IAF responded by deploying its Israeli-built EL/W-2090 AWACS system to counter the jamming and maintain continuous tracking.
In an unexpected tactical twist, Indian forces employed a decoy engagement strategy — deliberately allowing the F-16s to believe they had successfully jammed radar coverage, only to fire S-400 missiles from a concealed position once the enemy committed deeper into Indian airspace. This resulted in three F-16 kills in under ninety seconds.
Missile Barrage in the Sky
At 10:55 IST, in what some later described as the “high point” of the day’s operations, multiple Indian missile batteries — including Akash NG and S-400 systems — executed a coordinated launch across three different sectors. The result was overwhelming: four additional PAF aircraft were destroyed almost simultaneously, creating a psychological shockwave among the remaining Pakistani pilots.
One intercepted radio transmission, later leaked to the press, captured a Pakistani pilot shouting, “We’re losing too many! Break formation, break!” — a telling indicator of how rapidly morale was collapsing.
Political Repercussions in New Delhi
As these engagements unfolded in the skies, the political machinery in New Delhi was working just as quickly. Prime Minister Arvindan Mehta convened an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Foreign Minister Kavita Sharma briefed allied governments and the United Nations, framing Pakistan’s incursions as unprovoked acts of aggression against a sovereign state.
The Indian position was clear: while the nation was prepared to defend itself decisively, it had no intention of escalating into an all-out war, provided Pakistan ceased its hostile actions. This messaging, carefully crafted, allowed India to maintain the upper hand in international opinion — portraying itself as the measured, responsible actor in contrast to Pakistan’s recklessness.
End of the Second Wave
By 11:20 IST, the second wave had effectively collapsed. In total, nine Pakistani aircraft were destroyed during this phase, with no Indian losses. The skies over the western front fell eerily silent, broken only by the occasional reconnaissance pass by Indian drones.
Yet, military planners knew the quiet would not last long. The PAF had not yet committed its full force, and intelligence suggested that Pakistan’s military high command was already preparing a third, potentially larger, offensive — one that might involve both air and missile strikes.
The Third Wave: Ballistic Shadows Over the Border
The stillness that settled after the second wave was not the stillness of peace — it was the deceptive calm before an even darker escalation. Inside the Air Defence Command Centre, analysts warned that the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) repeated aerial defeats might push Islamabad toward a riskier, more aggressive play: integrating short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) strikes into the engagement.
Early Warning of a New Threat
At 11:37 IST, the Indian Defence Satellite Network (IDSN) — an integrated system linking RISAT satellites with advanced early-warning infrared sensors — picked up unusual heat signatures near two known missile launch facilities in southern Punjab, Pakistan. The thermal profile matched Nasr (Hatf-IX) missile batteries, capable of carrying both conventional and tactical nuclear warheads.
The detection triggered Protocol Varuna, India’s multi-layered missile defence readiness procedure. All western sector missile defence units, from Punjab down to Rajasthan, were ordered to elevated alert status.
A tense debate began inside the National Security Council: Should India pre-emptively neutralise the launch sites before the missiles were fired, or should it wait to intercept — risking impact but maintaining a defensive posture in line with its “No First Use” nuclear doctrine?
Prime Minister Arvindan Mehta’s instructions were clear: “We intercept. We do not initiate. But if even one missile crosses our border, our response will be absolute.”
PAF’s Diversionary Tactics
As if on cue, at 11:42 IST, Pakistani fighter squadrons reappeared — this time not in full assault formation but scattered in erratic flight patterns, seemingly intended to overwhelm Indian radar operators. The IAF quickly realised these movements were not intended to score air combat victories but to distract from the missile launches being prepared on the ground.
Indian air defence controllers immediately shifted to a dual-operations model:
- Group Alpha: Continued aerial interceptions to ensure Pakistani aircraft could not approach missile defence zones.
- Group Beta: Focused entirely on tracking potential missile trajectories and preparing interceptor launches.
The First Missile Launch
At exactly 11:49 IST, the first Nasr missile was fired from near Bahawalpur. Its trajectory indicated a strike toward the Indian city of Fazilka in Punjab. Within seconds, multiple additional launches were detected from separate sites — at least five inbound missiles in the first salvo.
The S-400 Triumf system positioned near Bathinda was first to engage. At 11:50:15 IST, two interceptor missiles were launched in quick succession, destroying the incoming Nasr at an altitude of approximately 23 km. Simultaneously, an Ashwin Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor from a Rajasthan battery neutralised a second missile before it could cross the border.
The Indian public would later learn that this was the first real-world combat test of the Ashwin system — and it had succeeded flawlessly.
Full-Scale Missile Defence in Action
The next three incoming missiles triggered the deployment of Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) interceptors, each one destroying its target mid-flight. Debris rained down harmlessly in Pakistani territory, with no Indian civilian areas touched.
The real-time coordination between radar, interceptor batteries, and AWACS proved critical — with operators sometimes having less than 40 seconds from detection to interception.
By 11:57 IST, the first missile barrage was entirely neutralised. But there was no time to celebrate.
The Counter-Strike Dilemma
In the CCS war room, Defence Minister Rajan Deshmukh pressed for a limited retaliatory strike against the launch batteries. The Air Chief confirmed that strike packages were already in standby mode, equipped with precision-guided SPICE 2000 bombs and BrahMos air-launched cruise missiles.
The question was no longer if India could hit back — it was when, and how much force would be considered proportional.
After a brief but intense discussion, the CCS authorised Operation Shatrupratibandh — a coordinated strike against only conventional missile batteries, avoiding any sites that could be construed as nuclear in nature. The aim was to maintain escalation control while sending a clear deterrent signal.
Operation Shatrupratibandh Begins
At 12:04 IST, six Mirage 2000 aircraft from Gwalior Air Base crossed into the engagement envelope. Protected by Su-30MKI escort fighters and supported by mid-air refuelling tankers, they targeted the Bahawalpur and Multan launch zones.
The strikes were surgical — satellite-guided munitions obliterated the mobile launcher vehicles without causing large-scale civilian casualties. Footage from Indian UAVs confirmed secondary explosions, indicating destruction of stored missiles.
Pakistani air defence responded with sporadic surface-to-air missile (SAM) launches, but none came close to hitting the retreating Indian aircraft.
Aftermath of the Third Wave
By 12:22 IST, the third wave was over. Pakistan’s SRBM capacity in the southern Punjab sector was severely degraded, and its air force had once again failed to secure any significant tactical gain.
Internationally, the developments caused an immediate diplomatic scramble. The United States urged both sides to “exercise maximum restraint,” while Russia quietly praised India’s measured yet firm response. China, notably, maintained strategic silence — a move that analysts later described as a calculated signal to Islamabad.
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