Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier has slammed Pakistan’s audacious claims of shooting down three Indian Air Force Rafale jets during Operation Sindoor, denouncing the assertion as “factually incorrect”.
Trappier’s rebuttal casts serious doubt on the credibility of Pakistan’s narrative. In an interview to the French magazine Challenges, Trappier said, “What Pakistan is claiming about downing three Rafales is simply not true.”
He made it clear that Dassault, the French company that manufactures the Rafale, has received no official communication from the IAF indicating any such losses.
“What we already know is that what the Pakistanis are saying about destroying three Rafale planes is inaccurate,” Trappier said.
The Dassault Chairman and CEO then went on to add, “When the complete details are known, the reality may surprise many.”
In the interview just ahead of the Paris Air Show, Trappier highlighted the formidable reputation of the Rafale as a premier multirole fighter jet.
“If you want a single aircraft capable of air-to-air combat, reconnaissance, ground strikes, nuclear deterrence, and aircraft carrier deployment, Rafale is unmatched,” he said.
While accepting the stealth advantage of the American F-22, he maintained that the Rafale is superior to the F-35 in real-world versatility and performance.
“It’s far better than anything China currently offers,” he said.
India has denied that it lost fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had earlier claimed that Pakistani forces downed five Indian aircraft, including three Rafales, and captured Indian soldiers during a retaliatory attack following India’s precision airstrikes during Operation Sindoor.
Defence analysts had already dismissed the Pakistani narrative as sheer propaganda, which is in tune with the country’s playbook, as has been the experience in the past.
In a tragic incident, heavily armed terrorists from Pakistan launched a brutal attack at a picturesque tourist spot in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 innocent civilians. The attack triggered a massive outrage across the nation and resulted in widespread calls for decisive action against cross-border terrorism.