The Indian Air Force insisted it has proof that a Pakistani F-16 was shot down during the dog fight in February, even as US publication Foreign Policy denied Indian claims.
According to Foreign Policy report, U.S. personnel recently counted Pakistan’s F-16 Fighter Jets and Found None Missing
The Indian Air Force reiterated that one of its MiG-21 planes had brought down an F-16 in the Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Two combat planes went down that day, one was an Indian and the other belonged to Pakistan air force (PAF) the IAF said in a statement.
“The Indian Force have confirmed sighting ejections at two different places on that day. The two sightings were at places separated by at least 8-10 km,” it said.
“One was an IAF Mig 21 Bison and the other a PAF aircraft. Electronic signatures gathered by us indicate that the PAF aircraft was an F-16,” the air force said.
Indian Air Force says it has proof that Pak F-16 was shot down in February dogfight after US journal contradicts claim pic.twitter.com/hTHIfN5cjQ
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 5, 2019
IAF sources also said that radio communication of Pakistan Air Force intercepted by it confirms that one of the F-16s that attacked India on February 27 did not return to its base
Pakistan has denied that its F-16s were used at all, a deployment that could potentially violate its supply contract with the U.S. Following Thursday’s Foreign Policy report, Islamabad appeared to further cast doubt on New Delhi’s claims that Varthaman hit an F-16, or anything at all, by providing ballistics evidence of its own.
IAF claim of hitting F-16 by their Mig 21 before having been shot down by PAF gets exposed. All 4 missile seeker heads recovered intact from the wreckage & held. Pakistan and its professional Armed Forces staying humble by not drum beating. We have more truth on this to share. pic.twitter.com/jOklFU7GDJ
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) April 5, 2019
“IAF claim of hitting F-16 by their Mig 21 before having been shot down by PAF gets exposed,” Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted Friday, alongside what appeared to be two R-77 and two R-73 air-to-air missiles in Pakistan’s custody. “All 4 missile seeker heads recovered intact from the wreckage & held. Pakistan and its professional Armed Forces staying humble by not drum beating. We have more truth on this to share.”
Foreign Policy said Pakistan had invited U.S. officials to physically count the F-16 planes after the incident. Some of the aircraft were not immediately available for inspection due to the conflict, so it took U.S. personnel several weeks to account for all of the jets, one of the officials was quoted as saying.
The count had now been completed and all aircraft “were present and accounted for”, the official was quoted as saying.
