Indian CDS Admits to Losing ‘some’ Jets; Mock Drills in Northern States

Last week, on two occasions, India's Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan spoke to news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore. His statements shed new light on combat operations during Operation Sindoor (vermilion marker) and went beyond the media briefings by the Indian Armed Forces during the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan. He did not admit to exactly how many jets India lost but said, 'There were losses but that is not important. What is important is why they were downed. We were able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days to hit air bases deep inside Pakistan. We penetrated all their air defenses with impunity, carried out precision strikes.' This version tallies with Indian Air Force's Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti on 11 May acknowledging ‘losses are a part of combat.’ However, the impression that the Bharatiya Janata Party government is projecting is that India won the hostilities with no losses. Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the prized Rafale aircraft, admitted to loss of at least one jet and has dispatched investigators to India to evaluate whether technical failures contributed to the shootdowns. Reports have surfaced that the Indian govt. has denied the French audit team access to its Rafale fleet. Indian officials are complaining about Dassault’s refusal to share the Rafale source code. Without it, Indian engineers cannot modify software, integrate indigenous weapons, or make battlefield adjustments. This lack of control has turned India’s flagship fighter into a black box—expensive, elite, and strategically constrained. Meanwhile, on 1-2 Jun, northern Indian states including Panjab conducted mock drills and blackouts to bolster civil defence preparedness under Operation Shield, an initiative aimed at enhancing emergency response in the event of air strikes. On the other hand, the trade losses from India’s closure of the Wagah-Attari border post with Pakistan has resulted in a loss of USD1.4B (earlier coverage).