Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh on Saturday revealed that during Operation Sindoor, the Indian Air Force shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and destroyed a surveillance aircraft from nearly 300 kilometers away—setting a new record for surface-to-air target engagement.
Speaking at the 16th edition of the Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre Memorial Lecture at the HAL Management Academy Auditorium in Bengaluru, Singh commended the exceptional performance of India’s air defense systems during the operation. He stated that Pakistan was unable to penetrate India’s defenses despite multiple attempts.
“The recently acquired S-400 air defense systems proved to be game-changers. Even with long-range glide bombs at their disposal, Pakistan could not deploy them effectively,” Singh said.
Highlighting the aftermath of the strikes, he pointed to before-and-after images of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, where nothing was left standing post-attack. These visuals, captured not only by satellites but also by local media, showed the interiors of destroyed buildings.
On May 7, at around 1:30 a.m., India conducted airstrikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing over 100 militants according to the Indian Army. Targets included locations in Kotli, Bahawalpur, Muridke, Bagh, and Muzaffarabad, as reported by Pakistan’s state media. Among them were the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters and a facility linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.
