‘Manohar kahaniyan’, says IAF chief dismissing Pak’s all claims; rather ‘dozen’ enemy jets destroyed during ‘Op Sindoor’

The strikes in air were done using the Russian S-400 air defence system, he also hinted calling it the newly inducted long-range surface to air missile. “We have clear evidence of one long-range strike, more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AEW&C or a SIGINT aircraft. Along with that, five high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class,” the Air Chief Marshal said, calling the 300 km strike inside Pakistani territory the “longest kill” ever achieved by the Air Force. Apart from the jets, the targets blown to smithereens on the ground include radars at four places, command and control centres at two locations, two runways, three hangars, and one Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system. The IAF chief said all three services have started working on the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ air defence system, and the force has drawn up a Roadmap 2047 to enhance its combat capabilities. “We will move forward towards self-reliance, but where required, we will seek strategic technology to fill critical gaps quickly,” Singh said. ‘Atmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) remains central to the IAF’s roadmap, and orders have been placed for the LCA Mk1A, while the LCA Mk2 and Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) projects are in the pipeline. Various radars, systems, and indigenous innovations are under development. The IAF chief also pointed to successful multilateral and bilateral exercises with countries such as the UAE, Egypt, France, and Singapore, noting that foreign commanders had expressed eagerness to continue joint drills. Responding to a question on tech billionaire Elon Musk’s assertion on the future of warfare, Singh said the importance of manned missions is not going to fade away. Earlier this year, Musk claimed that the future of warfare will be dominated by artificial intelligence and drones, insisting that manned missions would soon fade away. However, according to Singh, while more and more automation and AI are coming in and there will be unmanned systems available, they would have to work in collaboration with the manned system or have to be controlled by a man. .