Note: Nothing in this article comes from confidential sources. Everything cited as fact is verifiable using open channels, the remainder is an analysis of potential post-conflict outcomes.
On 27 February 2019, Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) had announced that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft. The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and IAF countered by claiming the latter shot down a PAF F-16B.
Thus far, only the loss of the one IAF MiG-21bis was openly verified, with other claims – such as the PAF’s and IAF’s respective claims about the F-16B and the Su-30MKI – still yet to be corroborated.
Nonetheless, with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, asserting that the IAF would have succeeded in its objectives (or remained unscathed) had it received the Dassault Rafale, the air-to-air encounter could have lasting effects on the respective air doctrines of both countries.
Summary of the Air Battle
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