Tom Cooper, a well-known Austrian military analyst and historian specializing in combat aviation and conflict analysis, hailed the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) downing of five Pakistani jets during Operation Sindoor as a “major tactical, operational, and strategic achievement,” calling it a confirmation of something already widely assessed by May this year.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Cooper said, “Well, what is this in terms of revelation? It is a confirmation of something more or less known since May.”

Chief of Indian Air Force Said India Destroyed Five Pakistani Jets During Operation Sindoor

This comes after the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, confirmed that India shot down five Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor, a decisive response to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 23 that killed 26 tourists.

The IAF took down five fighter jets and one large aircraft, believed to be either an ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) or AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft, at a distance of approximately 300 kilometers.

“We have seen evidence of not only five, but even more Pakistani aircraft being shot down. We have also seen evidence for even more Pakistani aircraft being destroyed on the ground. But there was no official confirmation from the Indian Air Force, not even from the government of India (in May, during the ongoing Operation Sindoor). Therefore, this is a nice confirmation for something that was assessed already back in May,” Cooper told ANI.

It took the Indian side three months to confirm the downing of the Pakistani planes due to the thorough verification process, which involved multi-layered validation, including radar data, AWACS inputs, and satellite imagery.

S-400 System Played a Key Role in Success of Operation Sindoor

Cooper described the strike, conducted using the S-400 surface-to-air missile system, as the longest-range confirmed kill of its kind, at over 300 kilometers.

He noted that the IAF deployed the system so close to the Pakistan border that it was within range of Pakistani artillery, making it a “risky operation” that could have led to the missile battery being targeted.

The IAF launched Operation Sindoor in early May, targeting key Pakistani military installations, including the F-16 hangar at Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield, which was partly destroyed. The operation showcased the effectiveness of India’s S-400 air defense system, described by the IAF chief as a “game-changer” in deterring enemy aircraft.

“This is a significant fact because we have seen the Indian Air Force deploying its, in this case, S-400 surface to air missile system very close to the border to Pakistan, so close that it was actually firing missiles from within the range of Pakistani army’s artillery, which meant if it would stay, its presence of the firing unit in question would have been detected by Pakistanis too early, Pakistanis could have shelled the area in question, hit and destroyed this firing unit. So it was quite a risky operation, actually,” Cooper said.

(Inputs From ANI)

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