Dassault CEO Confirms India Lost One Rafale Jet But Not During Operation Sindoor Combat; Rejects Pakistan`s Claim-OxBig News Network

In a major revelation two months after the Operation Sindoor, Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier has rejected Pakistan’s claim of shooting down Indian Rafale fighter planes. Speaking to French website Avion Chasse, Trappier also said that while India lost one Rafale, the jet was not lost during combat but due to technical reasons. 

Notably, the Pakistan Air Force had claimed to have downed five Indian Air Force fighter jets on May 7. The PAF claimed that it shot down three Rafales using Chinese PL-15E missiles launched using the J-10C multi-role combat aircraft. However, Pakistan has so far not furnished any evidence for its claims.

Notably, Dassault Aviation manufactures Rafale aircraft. Trappier has termed Pakistan’s Rafale shootdown claim ‘inaccurate and unfounded’ while saying that the loss of one aircraft occurred without enemy contact. Confirming the loss, Trappier said it was due to a technical failure at a high altitude.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 6-7 to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. While Pakistan had claimed of shooting down five Indian fighter jets, Indian government has also rejected the claim.

Sharing technical inputs, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier said that the Spectra electronic warfare systems onboard the Rafale jet did not record any hostile engagements and added that the flight logs received by Dassault also did not indicate combat loss.

This comes amid the report that China ran a malicious campaign post Operation Sindppr to defame Rafale jets and promote its fighter aircraft used by Pakistan. According to reports, Pakistan, via its embassies, ran a disinformation campaign to push Rafale’s popularity down and Pakistan played a crucial role in it by making misleading claims. 

India launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 6-7 in which it targeted nine terror sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. While India maintained that the nature of the precision strikes was non-military in nature, Pakistan escalated it to a military conflict by attacking Indian civilian and military sites. Following Pakistan’s attack, Indian Armed Forces launched a massive counterstrike, destroying 11 airbases of Pakistan apart from various enemy military sites.