The head of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, has ruled out that Pakistan has crashed the Rafale fighter jets into India as claimed by Pakistan in the recent military conflict in early May. Talking to a French magazine, Trappier referred to the allegation as inaccurate, stating that it is pure fiction and that critics do not have any credible evidence. The Rafale jets, which are the most up-to-date combat aircraft, are manufactured by Dassault Aviation.
Commenting about reports claiming that three Indian Rafale jets were downed during the May 7-10 clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops, Trappier stated, The Indians have not reported, so we do not know what exactly occurred. There is then what we already understand is that what the Pakistanis are saying is not correct.”
Trappier also stressed that the success of the military should not be calculated only by the lack of losses. When you fly in a combat aircraft, you are performing a task. It matters not that there are zero losses in a mission, but whether it has accomplished the mission, he said. To add a parallel with history, he said, “During the Second World War, they could not say that the Allies lost the war because they lost soldiers.”
Earlier, Pakistan had said it had destroyed six Indian fighters, including Rafales, in retaliatory strikes on Days 7 and 10 of May. Such tensions came after Operation Sindoor by India, a military action on cross-border terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians died.
The Indian authorities have not provided comprehensive details of the losses of aircraft. But discussions were nothing much as Air Marshal AK Bharti said in one of the briefings to the press on May 11, “We are in a combat situation; and losses are a part of combat”, and underlining the clear message of the destruction of the terrorist targets. Chiefs of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, among others, denied the claims made by Pakistan, describing them as entirely false.
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