NEW DELHI – Embarrased and humiliated Indian Air Force, Dismissing a USmedia report reaffirmed on Friday that it had shot down an F16 aircraft ofthe Pakistan Air Force on February 27 during aerial combat.
It claimed that its Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraftdetected eleven F16 jets airborne, and one brought down.
The insistence came after Foreign Policy magazine reported on Thursday thatPakistan had invited US media to count its F16s — all supplied by the US —and none of them were missing. This contradicts India’s claim that one ofits jets shot down an F16 during an aerial dogfight following the Pulwamaattack. “During the engagement, one MiG 21 Bison of IAF shot down an F16 inNowshera sector,” the IAF said in a press statement.
In an informal briefing later, it said images taken by the AEW&C craft showpresence of eleven F16s during Pakistan’s intrusion, and interceptsavailable with Indian agencies show two craft went down. “One was our WingCommander Abhinandan. The second identity is not known as Pakistan has notrevealed it,” it said.
In the statement, the IAF said: “The Indian forces have confirmed sightingejections at two different places, separated by at least 8-10 km, on thatday. One was an IAF MiG 21 Bison and other a PAF aircraft. Electronicsignatures gathered by us indicate that the PAF aircraft was an F16.”
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“It went missing within eight seconds, after it was hit by Wing CommanderAbhinandan,” asserted the IAF, adding that the images show the F16 flewover Mirpur and the engagement took place in Subzkot, opposite Rajouri andNowshera sectors on the Indian side.
“At this this point, a dogfight took place with Abhinandan and only F16swere deployed. JF17s were flying north of this,” the IAF said.
