'6 Pak Aircraft Were Downed During Operation Sindoor': Air Force Chief Praises S-400 System

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh (Credit: File Photo/ANI)

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Saturday confirmed that during India’s Operation Sindoor, five Pakistani fighter jets were shot down. He also praised the S-400 air defence system. This marks one of the first major disclosures about the damage inflicted by the Indian Armed Forces during the operation.

Speaking at the 16th edition of the Air Chief Marshal LM Katre Memorial Lecture, at the HAL Management Academy Auditorium, the Air Force Chief said that at least five fighter jets of the Pakistani air fleet were shot down. 

"We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance there... We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW &C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about," he added. 

#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka | Speaking on Operation Sindoor, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh says, "...We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW &C aircraft, which was taken on at… pic.twitter.com/ieL6Gka0rG

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2025

In addition, he also praised India's air defence systems and called the S-400 system a "game-changer".

"Our air defence systems have done a wonderful job. The S-400 system, which we had recently bought, has been a game-changer. The range of that system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons like, those long-range glide bombs that they have, they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system," the Air Force Chief said. 

Operation Sindoor

On April 22, terrorists opened fire in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam and killed 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali citizen. After the gruesome incident, The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack, only to retract it later. The tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after this, leading to several diplomatic and military steps taken by New Delhi. 

The Indian Armed Forces launched 'Operation Sindoor' during the early hours of May 7 and hit terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). 

Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha during the Operation Sindoor debate in the Monsoon Session that the terrorists responsible for multiple terror attacks during the Congress-led UPA regime were eliminated in Operation Sindoor.  

Meanwhile, in an address to Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the mission targeted key terrorist hubs and achieved complete operational success within just 22 minutes, eliminating over 100 terrorists and handlers.