By Jatin Matah
General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) has stirred quite a storm with his interview to Bloomberg TV in Singapore, by laying to rest the speculation on the downing of IAF fighter jets.
Terming it as “tactical mistake” in the initial stages of the conflict, he opened it to the world for interpretation. But in the larger scheme of things, is it a bold move to lay to rest the ongoing debate on whether India did lose its famed Rafale jets?
In response to a direct question on 31 May to Bloomberg TV, he said, “What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being downed. What mistakes were made — those are important. Numbers are not important. The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew our jets again, targeting at long range.”
General Chauhan in a master stroke played a leader’s role in accepting the mistakes made, the rectifications done, and flying again 2 days later to complete the job by hitting targets 300 kms inside enemy territory and destroying 9 Pakistani Army Bases.
He has responded in a very “Even if” direction of discussion. Even if we had losses, we still achieved our objectives on both days.
The concern first came to light when Director General of Air Operations (DGAO) Air Marshal AK Bharti, speaking at a press briefing when asked about losses to the Indian armed forces during Operation Sindoor, responded, “We are in a combat situation, and losses are a part of combat”, ending the statement there with “we have achieved our objectives”, and “All our pilots are back home”.
Through the weeks there have been talks and debates on national and international media asking both sides the same question. While Pakistanis claimed the downing of Rafales, India maintained a very non-committal stance on its losses as the operation is still ongoing.
We saw the stock prices of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturers of Rafale, going down on the claims of it being shot down, and up again on finding no proof on “Indian Social Media”.
Huge interest was shown by the international defence experts on the Chinese PL 15e missiles used in the operation, till the time a fully intact unexploded missile fired by Pakistani Army was found in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur.
The Chinese downplayed the news by stating the export version of the Pl 15e missile was used by Pakistan against India.
Well, as a customer of Chinese made Diwali lights, we’re more than familiar on the dependability of Chinese products – some work and some don’t!
General Chauhan reaffirmed our readiness and our capability on the battlefield. It was like a bottom shot in the game of snooker where the cue ball is struck below its centre, creating a backspin, so it hits the intended ball and comes in the reverse direction.
Not only did General Chauhan boldly accept the loss, he also underlined the fact that India supersedes its adversary in the air. By hitting targets deep inside Pakistan, undetected and unhurt, India established its decisive advantage.
(Jatin Matah is a Techpreneur. He is a prolific writer, loves tech and pens his thoughts on social issues.)
