Dear Dr,
Many thanks for your letter in regard to AFM’s coverage of the air war over Kashmir.
Clearly, both sides have made claims that can’t be proven – I think the news story carefully makes clear what are proven facts and which are (official) claims. Ultimately, there are more of the latter, and these can only provide a framework to understand what might ave happened.
The item makes clear that only one kill has been confirmed (that of a MiG-21bisUPG Bison).
As you observe, the IAF air strikes apparently had little effect on their intended target; for this reason, I did not mention Indian claims of "surgical strikes on terrorists camp [that] killed over 300 people”. In fact, I limited the account to the PAF side of the story here, i.e. “six to eight Indian aircraft were effectively intercepted by PAF jets and forced to scuttle back while randomly releasing their ordnance”.
As for the F-16D claim, I have made clear that this is only a “possibility” and I note that Pakistan officially denies losing any aircraft. This is an official claim on the Indian side, after all, so warrants mention, as does the Pakistani claim of another Indian jet downed (again with no hard evidence as yet).
The point stands that neither side has presented evidence of kills against the second IAF fighter or the PAF F-16D. As such, I am confident that the news item does not present as fact anything that can’t be substantiated. The question of satellite evidence is important, but it’s not unfeasible for wreckage to be removed or concealed before such imagery is updated. Unlikely perhaps, but not impossible. (This is in contrast to the air strike, of course, where evidence is enduring). However, as it stands, both sides are still claiming unsubstantiated kills.
I hope that you continue to enjoy AFM’s coverage of military aviation and thanks again for your thoughts on this interesting topic.
Best wishes,
Thomas Newdick
Editor, AirForces Monthly
