Editorials: The claim of six kills

The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, made a startling declaration in Bengaluru on August 9, three months after Operation Sindoor, that the IAF had shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one support aircraft. He said this hit, 300 km deep inside Pakistani territory, was the "largest ever" in an aerial engagement. He went on to add that his force was given complete operational freedom during the four-day confrontation, indicating that no political tramlines were drawn for the campaign.

Given the position of the person making the claim, it deserves serious consideration. Yet, it is surprising — even puzzling — for several reasons.

First, the claim of downing six Pakistani craft was not even hinted at before — not by military spokesmen during the operation, or by the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, and External Affairs Minister when they spoke in Parliament during the current session. Unlike the IAF’s strikes on terror camps in Muridke and air defence facilities in Jacobabad, which were backed by satellite imagery and open-source verification, no direct evidence — wreckage, radar data, or neutral reports — was presented to support the claim of six kills. Why, the question arises, did the political leadership deny itself the opportunity of announcing these successes to the nation?

Even more curiously, the Press Information Bureau release on the IAF chief’s lecture made no mention of the six downed aircraft or his assertion that the S-1000 missile system had proved to be a "game changer." If these were indeed signal achievements, why were they mentioned as an afterthought during a commemorative lecture?

The IAF chief’s presentation could have been better timed to avoid the criticism that its purpose was to shore up the government’s rhetoric. A day after the lecture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that Pakistan had been "brought to its knees within hours" during Operation Sindoor. Was the IAF chief’s revelation meant to supply the basis for the PM’s political assertions?

Similarly, the praise for the S-1000 missile system — a Russian-Indian collaboration — comes in the runup to a Modi-Putin meeting in the context of New Delhi’s souring relationship with the US. Was this Modi’s way of thumbing his nose at Donald Trump?

The absence of supportive evidence leaves the IAF’s claims open to scepticism. If indeed the kills were scored, the IAF chief’s presentation should have been accompanied by fuller evidence. The fact that there was no international reportage or any satellite imagery of these hits considerably minimises their credibility.

Also, Air Chief Marshal Singh made no mention of earlier accounts by senior military figures that the IAF did lose some assets during Sindoor. These officers had said that the IAF had to operate under instructions from the political leadership not to hit military targets. Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that this was even communicated to Islamabad after the operation began. How then could it be justifiably said that the IAF was given total operational freedom?

Public relations objectives must never inform real military assessment. Nor must the government use the military for its political purposes. The government’s focus should be on evaluating operational outcomes, identifying weaknesses, and strengthening preparedness — not on making dramatic claims for domestic consumption, or to send signals abroad.