ISLAMABAD: A major international report has confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) suffered a historic defeat during ‘Operation Sindoor’, where Pakistan successfully downed a state-of-the-art Indian Rafale fighter jet using Chinese technology.
This incident, despite India’s multibillion-dollar defense budget, highlights significant gaps in India’s military strategy and intelligence capabilities.
According to an investigative piece by Reuters, Pakistan’s Air Force (PAF), under special orders from Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, intercepted and destroyed the Indian Rafale after an intense hour-long aerial battle. The shootdown marked the first-ever instance of a Rafale being destroyed in combat, setting a significant precedent in modern aerial warfare.
The report indicates that the primary reason behind the Rafale’s destruction was a critical failure in Indian military intelligence, particularly a misjudgment of the range of Pakistani missiles. This error led Indian pilots into making fatal decisions, allowing Pakistani J-10C jets to launch a long-range attack using Chinese PL-15 missiles from nearly 200 kilometers away, overwhelming Indian defenses.
Further, the report underscores Pakistan’s tactical advantage, which stemmed from the integration of Chinese electronic warfare systems, Swedish radar, and indigenous Pakistani data-link technologies.
These systems jammed Indian radar and communications, while India’s diverse fleet, composed of aircraft from various countries, lacked a cohesive network.
After the initial losses, India modified its strategy and launched retaliatory strikes using BrahMos missiles against Pakistani installations, escalating the situation until a ceasefire was brokered through U.S. diplomatic intervention.
Despite France’s Air Chief confirming the loss of the Rafale, the Modi government continued to deny the incident, marking the first time a Rafale fighter jet had been downed in warfare. This denial dealt a serious reputational blow to India’s military and political leadership.
The report concludes that the failure in Operation Sindoor was a result of flawed Indian planning and an overreliance on high-profile defense acquisitions, which were ultimately outmatched by Pakistan’s adaptive and integrated warfighting approach.
