‘Rafales, in the plural…absolutely not correct’: India’s defence secretary dismisses Pakistan claim

Indian Defence Secretary RK Singh said on Monday that Pakistan’s claim of shooting down multiple Rafale fighter planes is incorrect.

In the four-day India-Pakistan conflict in May, Pakistan has claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter planes , including three Rafales.

While refusing to go into the specifics, Singh told CNBC-TV18, “You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct. Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists.”

Singh’s remarks appear to confirm a previous statement by Eric Trappier, the CEO of Rafale-manufacturer Dassault Aviation, that India lost one Rafale fighter plane — Singh said that Indian loss of Rafales was not “plural” (more than one).

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In remarks published in French outlet Avion De Chasse on June 25, Trappier said that India lost one Rafale aircraft “at an altitude of over 12,000 metres during an extended training mission with no enemy involvement or hostile radar contact”.

After the French outlet carried Trappier’s remarks and we cited those remarks in the copy, Dassault issued a statement to say that the CEO never made such a statement.

“In response to certain press reports quoting Dassault Aviation Chairman & CEO, Eric Trappier, about the Sindoor operation, Dassault Aviation formally denies that Eric Trappier has made any operational or technical comments regarding the use of the Rafale in this operation,” said Dassault in a statement.

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What all India has said about losses in Operation Sindoor

Singh further said that no political constraints were imposed on the armed forces during the conflict with Pakistan on May 7-10.

“No political constraints on our armed forces and they have full operational freedom in conflict,” said Singh.

The remark was an apparent reaction to a statement made by Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s Defence Attache to Indonesia, last month at a seminar.

Kumar said that India lost fighter planes because of the rules of engagement set by the political leadership in the beginning of Operation Sindoor.

“We did lose some aircraft, and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishments and their air defences,” said Kumar.

In the first round of strikes under Operation Sindoor on the night of May 6-7, India struck only terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). India began striking Pakistani military facilities only after Pakistani military attacked India after Indian airstrikes on terrorist sites.

While India has confirmed that it lost fighter planes formally, it has not confirmed the numbers and has consistently rejected the numbers presented by Pakistan. Last month, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan admitted India lost warplanes but said that Pakistan’s claim of shooting down six Indian fighter planes was “absolutely incorrect”.

Chauhan told Bloomberg that the numbers were not important but the fact that India figured out and corrected its mistake to achieve superiority was important.

“The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,” said Chauhan.