The first destroyed in history: Pakistan manages to shoot down Indian Rafale
During India's Operation Sindhur, a Rafale fighter jet of the Indian Armed Forces was shot down in an air battle over Pakistan.
Here's What We Know
This is the first ever loss of a Rafale in combat. Photos of the wreckage, which bears the distinctive markings of this model, were found near the city of Bathinda in the Indian state of Punjab, 83 km from the border with Pakistan. Pakistan confirmed the downing, including of the Indian Rafale, although details of the incident and the fate of the pilot remain unknown.
CONFIRMED: One of the three Indian Rafale jets Pakistan claimed to have downed has now been confirmed.
- Clash Report (@clashreport) 7 May 2025
Wreckage bearing serial number BS-001 was found in Bathinda, verifying the Pakistani claim.
This was India's first Dassault Rafale EH fighter jet. pic.twitter.com/xXrfhTtIUq
Interestingly, the downed aircraft was numbered BS-001 - it was the first single-seat Rafale EH in the version for India, delivered to the country with the first batch in November 2020. In general, the first Rafale DH two-seater with the RB-001 registration number was delivered to the Indian Air Force in 2019.
For India, this is the first combat use of the Rafale, which has never been involved in an accident before, which is in stark contrast to the losses of Russian Su-30MKI fighters, of which the country has lost eleven since 2009.
For the Rafale itself, this is not the first time it has participated in wars, but the first test in the face of enemy aircraft and air defences. Pakistan has about 400 fighters in service, including 18 F-16 Block 52s, 44 F-16 MLUs, 20 J-10Cs and more than 120 JF-17s of various versions. As for air defence systems, Pakistan has Chinese HQ-9 (copies of the S-300), HQ-16, Crotale and their Chinese copies HQ-7, of which there are more than 140 in service.
Chinese HQ-7 air defence system. Illustration: Wikipedia
The Indian military launched a large-scale attack on a number of targets in Pakistan on the night of 7 May, which was the largest escalation since the Third Indo-Pakistan War.
Source: X
