A few days back, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh confirmed that the Indian Air Force managed to shot down 6 Pakistani aircraft, including 5 fighter jets and 1 other military aircraft during the intense clashes in May. The announcement was the first such confirmation by an army official.

The Air Chief Marshal, however, made no remarks on whether Islamabad also lost any of its F-16 fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, though he stated that India’s air strikes hit an additional surveillance plane and “a few F-16” fighters that were parked in hangars at two airbases in southeastern Pakistan.

Since then, there has been a growing friendship between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir, with the latter having made 2 trips to the United States since June. Amid these growing between the two nations, the US has reacted to whether Islamabad lost any F-16s or not.

Did Pakistan lose any F-16s during Operation Sindoor?

The US government has declined to give any specific answers on the loss of Pakistan Air Force-operated F-16 fighter jets during Operation Sindoor conducted in May. The 88-hour battle was fought by India and Pakistan between May 7 and May 10.

On being asked if Islamabad suffered any F-16 losses during the conflict, the US State Department, in a statement, told NDTV, “We refer you to the Government of Pakistan to discuss its F-16s.”

The remarks come just a few days after Air Chief Marshal Singh confirmed severe damage to air bases in Pakistan, including the Jacobabad airfield that housed F-16 jets. “At Jacobabad airfield, there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone. I am sure there were some aircraft inside which got damaged. We were able to get at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala,” he shared.

We have an indication of at least one AEW&C and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance, suffered damage, Singh added, underling that the Russian-made S-400 Triumf air defence system was a “game changer”.

Why US’ comment on Pak’s F-16 losses matter?

For the uninitiated, the F-16 fighter jet is made in the USA and so it keeps a track of the status of Pakistan-operated F-16s through US contractors, known as Technical Support Teams (TSTs). These are deployed in Islamabad 24/7 to monitor the use of F-16s. These TSTs work after end-use agreements signed between Islamabad and Washington.

As part of these agreements, the conditions under which Pakistan’s F-16s can be used in combat are defined. Which is why these TSTs are contractually obliged to be know about the state and status of all of Pakistan’s F-16 jets at all times.