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On a humid Delhi afternoon, as cameras whirred and reporters leaned forward for the annual press conference ahead of 93rd Air Force Day, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh did something unusual. For the first time since Operation Sindoor, he offered a blow-by-blow account of how the Indian Air Force had struck deep inside Pakistan in four-day conflict with Pakistan in early May.
Calm, measured, but with an edge of satisfaction, the Air Chief announced that the IAF had destroyed about a dozen Pakistani aircraft, among them the much-touted U.S.-built F-16s, Chinese-made JF-17s, a C-130-class transport plane, and even a sophisticated airborne surveillance aircraft.
It was not just a tally of wreckage. Singh’s remarks peeled back the curtain on the scale and precision of India’s first major air campaign since Balakot in 2019. This campaign unfolded over just four days in May, but brought the two nuclear-armed neighbours dangerously close to the edge.
“The Longest Kill”
The standout moment of Singh’s briefing came when he described what he called the IAF’s “highlight of the year”: a 300-kilometre-deep strike into Pakistani airspace that, according to Indian assessments, destroyed either an AEW&C radar aircraft or another high-value platform.
“This was the longest kill ever achieved by the IAF,” Singh declared, underscoring both the reach of India’s strike assets and the intelligence coordination that made such a mission possible. It was, he suggested, a marker of how far the service had come in extending its punch beyond the Line of Control.
F-16s in the Crosshairs
Until now, India had spoken only in vague terms about Pakistani losses. Singh’s confirmation that F-16s were among the aircraft destroyed was the first explicit acknowledgment that Pakistan’s prized fighter fleet had taken a direct hit.
According to him, at least five “high-tech” fighters were shot down in air combat, while another four or five jets – “most likely F-16s” – were destroyed on the ground inside their hangars. The IAF also assessed the loss of a C-130 transport plane and damage to radars, command centres, runways, and three separate hangars across Pakistani air bases.
For New Delhi, the symbolism of striking F-16s – long touted as the crown jewel of the Pakistan Air Force – is hard to miss. For Islamabad, admitting such losses would be politically and militarily unthinkable.
“Manohar Kahaniyan”
Not surprisingly, Pakistan has pushed back with its own narrative, claiming it shot down Indian aircraft during the May clashes. Singh brushed these off with a touch of sarcasm.
“Have you seen a single picture of anything falling on our airbases? Any hangar destroyed, any runway hit?” he asked reporters, before delivering the line that has since stuck: Pakistan’s claims, he said, were nothing more than “manohar kahaniyan” – fascinating tales.
And then came the sting. “If they think they shot down 15 of my jets, let them. I hope they cater for 15 fewer aircraft in my inventory the next time they fight us.”
It was a remark that revealed as much about the IAF’s confidence as it did about the Chief’s willingness to tweak his adversary’s pride in full public view.
A War with Limits
For all the swagger, Singh was careful to frame Operation Sindoor as a conflict with clear political limits. Triggered by the killing of 26 civilians in Kashmir on April 22, India launched its strikes on May 7, targeting what it said were Pakistan-based terrorist camps and their military protectors. By May 10, both sides had agreed to an uneasy pause.
“This was one war that started with an obvious objective and was terminated in quick time without being prolonged,” Singh said. “The terrorists paid the price for killing innocent people, and the world saw that we achieved our goal.”
The description – almost clinical – echoed what many analysts see as the doctrine of “swift, sharp, limited” operations: punishing Pakistan for cross-border terrorism without allowing escalation to spiral into a full-scale war.
Shifting the Battlefield
Even as he spoke of victory, Singh acknowledged that the adversary is adapting. Reports suggest terror groups have shifted deeper into Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, dispersing into smaller hideouts instead of the larger structures India struck in May.
Singh, however, was unfazed. “If intelligence is available, we now have the capability to go deep inside any of their hideouts with absolutely accurate targeting. We can destroy them and their hideouts. Our options have not changed.”
The Story Behind the Numbers
Numbers – twelve aircraft, four radars, two command centres, three hangars – offer one measure of success. But the subtext of Singh’s briefing was just as important.
First, it showcased an IAF increasingly confident in its ability to project power at range, not merely defend the Line of Control. Second, it was a deliberate attempt to shape the narrative, to counter Pakistani denials with a story of precision strikes and long-range reach. And third, it reflected the IAF’s belief that deterrence rests as much on public perception as on battlefield facts.
For Pakistan, forced to deny or downplay its losses, Singh’s comments represent a reputational challenge. For India, they signal an Air Force keen to highlight its operational maturity, its technological edge, and its willingness to call out the adversary’s “kahaniyan” (tales).
As the IAF prepares to celebrate its 93rd anniversary, Operation Sindoor has become more than just a four-day clash. In Singh’s telling, it was a demonstration – to Pakistan, to India’s own public, and to the wider world – that the Air Force can strike hard, deep, and fast, while keeping escalation under political control.
And in a conflict where competing narratives can sometimes matter as much as competing jets, Singh left little doubt about which story he wanted remembered.
Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
