Latest news with #IAF
New Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Military chief admits IAF jet loss in Op Sindoor, says tactics 'rectified' to strike deep inside Pakistan
NEW DELHI: The loss of an Indian Air Force fighter (IAF) jet during Operation Sindoor has been acknowledged by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Anil Chauhan, India's most senior military officer. The CDS declined to specify the losses in terms of numbers but clearly pointed to the fact that the Indian military carried out high-precision strikes deep inside Pakistani territory that, New Delhi said, forced Islamabad to plead to stop the hostilities. When asked whether Pakistan had downed an Indian jet or more during the course of Operation Sindoor, Gen. Chauhan told Bloomberg TV on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, 'What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down, what mistakes were made, that are important.' Gen. Chauhan added, 'The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range.' While he stated, 'Numbers are not important,' the CDS outrightly denied Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's claims that the Pakistan Air Force had shot down six Indian fighter jets, including four Rafale fighters, during the brief India-Pakistan clash. The CDS's remarks mark the Indian military's first clear acknowledgment of losses during the four-day clashes with the neighbouring country. However, on May 11, DG of Air Operations Air Marshal AK Bharti, responding to the same question, stated that 'losses are a part of combat,' while emphasising that all IAF pilots returned home safely. Operation Sindoor was a joint mission conducted by the IAF and the Indian Army to wipe out terrorist infrastructures inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
3 weeks later, CDS sheds new light on combat ops
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan's interviews to news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore shed new light on combat operations during Operation Sindoor, going beyond the media briefings by the Indian Armed Forces during the hostilities. First, General Chauhan's remark about initial losses in the air, without going into details or giving a count of aircraft lost, is the first official admission of fighter jets being downed in combat operations. This comes exactly three weeks after India and Pakistan agreed on cessation of military strikes against each other. To be clear, at no point, during and after the hostilities, did the IAF ever deny losing any aircraft. On May 11, a day after the two militaries reached a truce, Air Marshal A K Bharti, Director of Air Operations, responding to a question at a media briefing, said he would not like to comment on whether India lost any aircraft and cited the prevailing combat situation. He said losses were part of any combat, and the Indian military had achieved all its selected objectives and all IAF pilots were back home. Air Marshal Bharti said the Pakistan Air Force lost 'a few' aircraft, apart from suffering massive damage to assets and air bases during retaliatory high-precision strikes by Indian Armed Forces during the operation. General Chauhan, while acknowledging Indian losses in the air, underlined that what was more important was why these losses (of aircraft) occurred, and what India did after that. He spoke of how 'we rectified tactics and then went back' to 'hit air bases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, carried out precision strikes'. He told Reuters that the IAF 'flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th' of May, the day India struck air bases deep inside Pakistan, including the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi. He spoke on similar lines to Bloomberg: 'What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being (downed),' General Chauhan said. 'The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it and then implement it again after two days… flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,' he said. Significantly, the CDS also told Reuters that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict. 'While this was unfolding from (April) 22nd onwards, we didn't find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right,' he said.
The Print
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Print
Defence Secy bats for competitive bidding, says Centre cut red tape to save up to 69 weeks
He revealed that the 'government has already cut timelines across multiple stages of the procurement process, potentially saving up to 69 weeks'. Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Annual Business Summit held here Thursday and Friday, Singh emphasised the defence ministry's ongoing efforts to reduce procurement delays and implement structural reforms aimed at boosting private sector participation in the defence economy. New Delhi: Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has stressed the need to move away from the traditional nomination-based, cost-plus procurement model—historically dominated by public sector undertakings (PSUs)—and adopt competitive bidding to create a level playing field for both public and private defence manufacturers. He added that the ministry is currently revising the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 to better align with operational realities and expedite decision-making. Implementations of these reforms are underway in key programmes such as shipbuilding and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. As ThePrint reported in March, the ministry had then approved a proposal to nearly halve procurement timelines—an initiative expected to feature in the updated DAP, anticipated later this year. Among changes under consideration are introduction of deemed licensing beyond a defined time frame to ensure accountability, removal of outdated practices such as product reservation for defence PSUs and streamlining of procedural bottlenecks that have historically slowed defence acquisitions. Defence Secretary Singh's comments come at a time when delays in defence production and delivery remain a pressing concern. Earlier at the same event, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh also alluded to these challenges, citing constant delays in defence projects and failure to stick to delivery schedules, especially of fighter jets. 'While signing the contract itself, sometimes we are sure that it is not going to come up, but we just sign the contract. Uske baad dekhenge kya karna hai (we'll see what to do about it later). Of course the process gets vitiated,' he said. This was a direct reference to the contract for the 83 Tejas Mk-1A contract signed in 2021, delivery of which is yet to begin. ThePrint had in 2021 reported that while the IAF signed the contract with state-owned HAL, the fear was that the delivery would not begin on time. The first aircraft was to be handed over to the IAF in February last year. While assuring the private sector of improved ease of doing business and a level playing field, the defence secretary further stressed the importance of long-term investments in research and development, saying that the future of India's defence sector will rest on the depth of its innovation capacity. He underlined that companies without adequate engineering manpower, capital equipment or willingness to invest in R&D would have limited relevance in the country's strategic ecosystem. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Dr Samir V. Kamat, who also spoke before him at the summit, echoed these views, stating that both the government and private sector must increase their R&D outlays. 'Today, we spend 5 percent of our defence budget on R&D. The Raksha Mantri has promised that in the next five years, this will be scaled up to 10 percent,' he said. He further stressed that the private sector must also match this commitment by dedicating a similar proportion of their budgets to research. Further, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, during his remarks urged the industry to voluntarily commit a tenth of their budgets to innovation. Drawing a parallel with the Sikh practice of 'dasvandh', the tradition of donating one-tenth of one's earnings for collective welfare, he said such a step was necessary to build credible self-reliance in defence. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: India used this battlefield hack to keep Soviet-era missile systems firing against Pakistan in Op Sindoor
The Print
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
CDS Gen Chauhan admits to losses during Op Sindoor, rejects Pakistan's claim of 6 fighters downed
'I think what is important is not jet being down but why they were being..,' he told the media house in Singapore, where he is attending the annual Shangri-La Dialogue organised by London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). He made the comments in an interview to Bloomberg TV . Gen Chauhan was asked 'whether or not Pakistan downed an Indian jet or in fact more than that'. New Delhi: India's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan Saturday admitted to fighter aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor but denied Pakistan's claim that it downed six Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, terming it 'absolutely incorrect'. Taken aback by his response, the Bloomberg TV journalist asked Gen Chauhan again if he meant IAF jets were indeed downed to which he responded saying he was talking about why 'they' were downed. 'The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range,' the CDS said. On Pakistan's claims that it downed six IAF jets, he said, 'Absolutely incorrect. That is not the information which I said is important. What is important is why they were down. That is more important for us. And what did we do after that. That is more important.' There was no immediate response on the total number or types of aircraft India lost during Operation Sindoor, besides the 'tactical mistake' the CDS referred to in his response. In a separate interview to Reuters on camera, Gen Chauhan said, 'What I can say is that on the 7th [May], in the initial stages, there were losses but numbers, that is not important. What was important is why these losses occur and what we will do after that. 'We rectified tactics and then went back on 7th, 8th and 10th, and on 10th in large numbers to hit airbases deep inside Pakistan. Penetrated all their air defence with impunity and carried out precision strikes.' He added that the IAF 'flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th'. Gen Chauhan's response to another question underlining that both India and Pakistan 'displayed rationality' during the conflict took the Reuters journalist by surprise. He told the news agency, 'During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else's part?' While India has not outrightly denied the loss of IAF assets, it is yet to confirm exact details. Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, Director General, Air Operations, had in a press conference on 11 May said 'losses are part of combat'. He was responding to a query on Pakistan's claim of having shot down IAF aircraft. However, he emphasised that all IAF pilots were back home which meant that while India may have lost aircraft, pilots ejected safely. 'We are in a combat scenario. Losses are a part of combat. The question to be asked is, have we achieved our objectives of decimating the terrorist camps? The answer is a thumping yes,' he said. He added, 'At this time I would not like to comment on the numbers, which platforms did we lose? We are still in a combat situation. If I comment, it will be advantageous to the adversary. All our pilots are back home.' Asked about unverified reports that IAF shot down Pakistani aircraft, he had said, 'Their planes were prevented from entering inside our border…Definitely, we have downed a few planes…definitely, there are losses on their side which we have inflicted.' (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: Asim Munir just stole his 5th star & has nothing to show for it. It'll make him desperate, dangerous
The Wire
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
The French Are Anxious to Know the Fate of Rafales in Operation Sindoor Combat
IAF fighter aircraft Rafale flies past during the 13th edition of Aero India, in Bengaluru. Photo: PTI/File New Delhi: For the first time, France's armed forces ministry has said it is in contact with the Indian government to 'better understand' the circumstances surrounding French-origin aircraft during the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan. At a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the French defence ministry said the situation remained unclear and that Paris was attempting to make sense of conflicting accounts. 'Regarding the conflict taking place between India and Pakistan, what I mainly observe is that we are in the fog of war and that there is an intense information war. In other words, what we know most of all today is that we don't know what happened. So indeed, there are a number of allegations that I will not repeat, since there is no confirmed information,' the spokesperson said. France is understood to be particularly concerned about reports suggesting that Rafale aircrafts, supplied by Dassault Aviation and widely considered the backbone of India's combat air fleet, may have been lost in action during Operation Sindoor. 'The issue of the Rafale is, of course, of primary importance to us. We are naturally keen to understand what happened, and so we are trying to stay as close as possible to our Indian partner to better understand the situation,' the spokesperson added. 'Obviously, the most significant feedback will come from this use in high-intensity combat, which apparently, according to some reports, involved several hundred aircraft. So, of course, we are following these events as closely as possible,' the spokesperson said. Noting that the Rafale had seen two decades of active service across various theatres of war, the official said any confirmation of a combat loss would mark a first in the aircraft's operational history. 'What we can especially note today is that the Rafale has seen 20 years of operational use – 20 years of combat deployment – and that if it turns out there was indeed a loss, it would be the first combat loss of this warplane.' The Indian government has not commented on international media reports suggesting that an Indian aircraft may have been shot down or crashed during the strikes carried out on the night of May 6-7, when Indian forces targeted nine suspected terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Official statements have only acknowledged that losses are an inevitable part of warfare. At a media briefing on May 8, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said that official information will be shared when the time is right. On May 11, a day after fighting ended between India and Pakistan, Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal A.K. Bharti responded to a question about possible losses by stating, 'We are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of it. The question is, have we achieved our objective? The answer is a thumping yes. As for details, at this time I would not like to comment on that as we are still in combat and (do not want to) give advantage to (the) adversary. All our pilots are back home'.
