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Pakistan didn't shoot down India's Rafale during Op Sindoor, confirms Dassault CEO
(File) Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jets fly past during an air show at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru in February 2021. Reuters
Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Éric Trappier has rejected reports that India lost Rafale fighter jets during a recent military standoff with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. French website Avion De Chasse quoted Trappier as saying that while one Rafale jet was lost due to a high-altitude technical failure, no jets were lost during enemy engagement.
The executive admitted that an incident involving one jet occurred 'at an altitude of over 12,000 metres during an extended training mission, with no enemy involvement or hostile radar contact'.
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Additionally, Indian Defence Secretary RK Singh on Monday (July 7) confirmed to Network 18 that it was incorrect to say that India lost Rafale fighter jets during the four-day conflict.
When asked about Indian losses during the combat, Singh responded: 'You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct. Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists."
He also clarified that Indian forces had full operational freedom in conflict.
'No political constraints on our armed forces and they have full operational freedom in conflict,' he said.
The first official acknowledgement of Indian Air Force (IAF) losses had come last month from India's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan. While speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, he admitted losses but strongly rejected Pakistan's claim of downing six Indian jets, including Rafales, calling the assertion 'absolutely incorrect'.
Separately, India's Defence Attaché to Indonesia, Navy Captain Shiv Kumar, acknowledged 'some' losses during Operation Sindoor. During a seminar in Indonesia, he addressed a prior speaker's reference to Pakistan's claim that multiple Indian fighters, including three Rafales, were shot down.
'I may not agree with him that India lost so many aircraft. But I do agree that we did lose some aircraft, and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishments and their air defences,' Capt. Kumar said.
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French intelligence officials suspect China played a significant role in stoking doubts about the Rafale's combat performance after Operation Sindoor. According to a report by the Associated Press on Sunday, classified intelligence indicates that Chinese defence attachés have been lobbying foreign governments, notably Indonesia, to reconsider buying more Rafales and switch to Chinese-made fighter aircraft.
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