India’s air force chief said its military shot down at least five Pakistani fighter jets during a confrontation with its western neighbor in early May.
Air Chief Marshall AP Singh said the fighter jets were shot down with the help of Russian made anti-missile defense system — S400. A hangar which housed US-made F-16 fighter jets was also hit, Singh said on Saturday in Bengaluru.
“We have at least five confirmed kills and one large aircraft,” Singh said. The large aircraft could have been either fitted with a powerful radar to detect incoming threats including enemy fighters, or one which is used to detect, analyze or jam enemy radar and communications, he said.
In addition, a second sophisticated surveillance aircraft capable of jamming enemy communications that was parked at an airfield near Karachi was hit, Singh said.
“This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he said.
Singh’s comments were the latest insight into the damage wrought by the two nuclear-armed countries during the conflict as they came close to a full-scale war. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Singh’s remarks outside of regular business hours.
