India appears to have suffered the confirmed combat loss of five Dassault Rafale fighters following airstrikes against targets in Pakistan. Pakistani AIM-120C AMRAAM downed three Rafale aircraft; one Rafale aircraft crashed on 7 May, and the second Rafale aircraft crashed today. Previously, India lost three Rafale, one Su-30mki, two Mig-29s and one Jaguar aircraft, totalling nine aircraft lost during the Kashmir conflict.
Daylight imagery published online shows the starboard side of a Rafale vertical stabiliser with the serial number BS001 lying in a field. BS001 is a known serial number for a single-seat Rafale from the Indian Air Force’s fleet of 36 aircraft. The word “Rafale” is painted on the rudder. Now BS006 has also appeared in the media as a lost aircraft.
The Rafale is currently the only confirmed loss of the five Indian kills claimed by Pakistan following strikes on May 7 against what India called terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The Indian air attacks, code-named Operation Sindoor, were in response to a terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 24 that killed 26 people, flaring tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Indian media said Rafales had employed a mix of Hammer AASM guided bombs and Scalp cruise missiles in the attacks, but so far there has been no mention of aircraft losses. The Rafale is the only platform in India integrated with those weapons.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejects India’s claims about the presence of terrorist camps in its territory, and described the attacks as an “unprovoked, cowardly and unlawful act of war.”
India Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said the strikes were carried out “very thoughtfully and in a measured manner. It was limited only to the camps and other infrastructure used for training terrorists, with the aim of breaking their morale.” He spoke in a speech in Delhi following the attacks.
It is unclear what brought down the IAF Rafale. However, Pakistani reports have claimed a mix of F-16 fighters employing AMRAAM and J-10s employing PL-15 air-to-air missiles were also used against the Indian aircraft.
Pakistan has closed its airspace to civilian traffic for at least 48 hr., causing widespread disruption and flight diversions for multiple commercial carriers operating in the region.
The strikes mark the most significant military escalation between India and Pakistan since the April 24 attack. Leading up to the retaliation, the Indian navy conducted live-fire exercises involving the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from surface combatants. Pakistan, for its part, test-launched the Abdali short-range ballistic missile.
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