The US government has declined to comment on reports of Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jet losses during Operation Sindoor and directed all queries to Islamabad instead.
“We refer you to the Government of Pakistan to discuss its F-16s,” the US State Department said, as per the NDTV reports.
The US reportedly keeps constant watch over Pakistan’s F-16 fleet through Technical Support Teams (TSTs), American contractors stationed in Pakistan round the clock to ensure the jets’ use complies with detailed end-use agreements between Islamabad and Washington, as NDTV reported. These agreements outline the conditions for Pakistan’s combat deployment of the aircraft and serve as the basis for continued US maintenance support.
Consequently, these Technical Support Teams are contractually obligated to be fully aware of the status of all Pakistan-operated F-16s at all times.
At that time, two senior US defence officials reportedly told Foreign Policy that US personnel had recently accounted for all of Islamabad’s F-16s and found none missing – a statement issued after India claimed to have shot down at least one Pakistan Air Force F-16.
India now believes Pakistan lost several F-16 jets during Operation Sindoor, either on the ground due to Indian Air Force (IAF) strikes or in aerial combat. Three months after the hostilities ended, IAF Chief Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Saturday confirmed, “Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield (was) one of the major airfields that was attacked. Here, there’s an F-16 hangar.”
He added, “One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there.”
Detailing the IAF ground strikes, the Air Chief said, “Three hangars that we attacked: Sukkur – UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] hangar, the Bholari hangar of the AEW&C [Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft] and Jacobabad – the F-16 hangar. We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance.” The IAF also claims to have shot down six Pakistani aircraft during the operation.
Pakistan, which has made its own claims regarding Indian jets being shot down during Operation Sindoor, rejected the IAF Chief’s statements.
(With IANS inputs)