Pakistan Locked On 20 Indian Fighter Jets on May 7—Took Down Only Six to Avoid Escalation

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — In a revelation that has sent shockwaves through South Asia’s strategic circles, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari disclosed that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had locked onto 20 Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets on the first night of the recent military conflict—but chose to fire on only six of them.

According to Bhutto Zardari, PAF exercised calculated restraint, targeting only those Indian aircraft that had dropped munitions on Pakistani territory, opting not to escalate the conflict further by engaging all jets in range.

“On the night of May 7, Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft had locked on to 20 Indian fighter jets but only shot down six of those that dropped their payloads over Pakistani territory,” he said.

“If we (Pakistan Air Force) had wanted to, we could have taken down all 20 aircraft that had been locked onto. This shows our restraint,” he added, highlighting Islamabad’s calibrated approach to a high-stakes engagement.

Bhutto Zardari also accused India of deliberate obfuscation, noting that New Delhi delayed its public acknowledgment of the downed jets by nearly a month—a move he said contrasts starkly with Pakistan’s transparency.

“It took India almost a month to admit it had lost fighter aircraft during the conflict with Pakistan, proving that Pakistan has been upfront with its people, the world, and the media, while India tried to conceal the truth,” the former foreign minister asserted.

A scion of Pakistan’s most prominent political dynasty, Bhutto Zardari is the son of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and ex-President Asif Ali Zardari, and he briefly held the role of Foreign Minister in the post-Imran Khan coalition government in 2022, becoming one of the youngest ever to do so.

Confirmation of Indian fighter losses finally emerged during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan acknowledged the IAF had indeed lost jets during the border clash—though he declined to specify how many.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Chauhan remarked, “The important question is not whether the jet was shot down, but why it was shot down.”

“Numbers are irrelevant,” he added, defending India’s operational response. “What matters is that we recognized our tactical errors, corrected them, and resumed long-range strike operations within two days.”

On May 17, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan confirmed that six Indian Air Force fighters were downed in what he termed the most serious aerial engagement between the two nuclear-armed states in years.

The sixth confirmed aircraft—a Dassault Mirage 2000—was reportedly shot down on the night of May 6-7 near Pampore, just east of Srinagar, by Pakistani air combat assets.

Pakistan had earlier claimed it had already downed five Indian fighters: three Rafales, one Su-30MKI, and one MiG-29, in a sequence of highly coordinated air-to-air engagements.

The sixth aircraft, the Mirage 2000, is believed to have been brought down by a PAF J-10C fighter deploying a PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile, a system that has rapidly become a key pillar of Chinese and Pakistani aerial doctrine.

According to Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, all five prior kills were achieved using J-10C multirole fighters equipped with the PL-15E Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile, a Chinese-built weapon known for its formidable range and AESA radar seeker.

“The much-hyped Rafales failed miserably, and Indian Air Force pilots proved themselves unskilled,” Dar stated, delivering a cutting critique of India’s frontline Western aircraft.

Military analysts suggest both J-10C and JF-17 “Thunder” fighters may have contributed to the engagements, with the PL-15 missile—developed by the China Airborne Missile Academy (CAMA)—serving as the decisive edge in combat.

The PL-15’s estimated range exceeds 150–200 km, with some reports indicating Indian aircraft were engaged from distances of up to 182 km, possibly while the Pakistani launch platforms remained within domestic airspace.

The J-10C, developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAIG), has emerged as the PAF’s premier BVR air superiority platform, while the JF-17 Block III, jointly developed by CAIG and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), further augments Pakistan’s indigenous strike capabilities.

Observers have dubbed the aerial confrontation the largest dogfight in South Asian history, involving an estimated 125 fighter aircraft from both countries in a high-intensity multi-day battle.

The PL-15, a next-generation BVR missile with Mach 4 speed, AESA guidance, and countermeasure resistance, is widely considered among the most lethal air-to-air missiles globally—on par with the AIM-120D AMRAAM and MBDA Meteor.

Despite an accumulation of intelligence reports, visual confirmations, and official statements, India has remained reluctant to fully concede the scale of its losses, particularly those involving its cutting-edge Rafale fleet, acquired from France under a highly scrutinized arms deal.

Pressed on the fate of the three Rafales, IAF Air Marshal A.K. Bharti offered a guarded response: “We are in a wartime scenario—losses are part of combat,” refusing to elaborate further, though defence watchers saw this as a tacit admission.

Pakistan’s claims have gained further legitimacy through assessments from U.S. and French intelligence.

Senior U.S. officials told Reuters that PAF J-10C fighters were “responsible for downing at least two Indian jets,” while CNN’s chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto reported that French intelligence confirmed at least one Indian Rafale had been shot down by Pakistan.

According to CNN, French authorities are actively investigating whether multiple Rafales were lost in the engagement, with U.S. intelligence sources also affirming that one Indian fighter was destroyed during India’s attempted airstrikes over Pakistani territory.

The American official cited in the report is said to have had access to real-time classified assessments, lending considerable weight to Islamabad’s version of events.

From the outset of hostilities on May 7, New Delhi has steadfastly denied any aircraft losses, maintaining this position despite mounting international confirmation—until General Chauhan’s partial admission in Singapore broke that silence.

The incident underscores not only the volatility of South Asia’s security architecture but also the strategic potency of Chinese-supplied weapons in regional conflicts and the increasing geopolitical contest over narrative control.

With global defence analysts still parsing the implications of the encounter, the potential degradation of India’s Rafale fleet and the combat validation of the PL-15 missile may well redefine the balance of airpower in the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

— DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA