After "Operation Sindoor," conducted by India on the night of May 6 to 7 in Pakistan, as a retaliation for an attack in Pahalgam, in the Indian Kashmir region on April 22, the show of force intended by New Delhi is widely viewed by many military experts as a significant underperformance. Despite the bombing of nearly a dozen sites in Pakistan, with significant damage observed, India was forced to acknowledge the loss of at least three fighter jets during this operation. These major losses reveal the weaknesses of the Indian Air Force.

In an extremely tense context between the two countries, several conflicting reports, impossible to independently verify, circulated on Wednesday, May 7. Pakistani military sources, including Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, claimed that five Indian Air Force aircraft, including three Rafales, a MiG-29 and a Sukhoi SU-30, were shot down with Chinese-made Chengdu J-10 jets. However, on the Indian side, only an anonymous security source, who spoke to Agence France-Presse, acknowledged military losses without specifying the type of aircraft.

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