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On 27 February 2019, the
Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
(PAF) conducted six
airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
s at multiple locations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The airstrikes were part of the PAF military operation codenamed Operation Swift Retort and were conducted in retaliation to the
Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
(IAF) airstrike in Balakot just a day before on 26 February. It was the first time since 1971 that both countries' airforces had conducted airstrikes on each other's territory across the
Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
(LoC). India conducted an airstrike in
Balakot Balakot (; ur, ; ) is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The town was destroyed during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi P ...
on 26 February while Pakistan responded by conducting airstrikes in
Indian-administered Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompass ...
. Following Pakistan's airstrikes, Indian Air Force (IAF) jets started pursuing Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets. In the resulting
dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...
, Pakistan claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured one Indian pilot,
Abhinandan Varthaman Abhinandan Varthaman VrC (born 21 June 1983) is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who, during the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, was involved in entering Pakistani airspace and his MIG 21 was shot down by Pakistani PAF F-16 on 27 February 2019 ...
. Indian officials acknowledged that one IAF jet was lost. Indian officials also claimed to have shot down a PAF
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
jet. Pakistan rejected the Indian claim and said that the PAF did not suffer any losses in the dogfight. One IAF
Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...
helicopter was also lost due to a friendly fire incident.


Background


Pulwama attack

On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the
Jammu–Srinagar National Highway The Jammu–Srinagar National Highway is the northernmost segment of NH 44 (formerly NH 1A before the renumbering of all national highways). It runs from Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley southward to the city of Jammu. It is one of the two ...
was attacked by Pakistan-based
Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000." Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azha ...
militant group's vehicle-borne
suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
at
Lethpora Lethapora, also known as Lethpora and Lalitpur, is a village in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located in the Pampore tehsil of district Pulwama in Kashmir valley. It has a long history as it was named after a king ...
in the
Pulwama district The Pulwama district is located to the south of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. Its district headquarters are situated in the city of Pulwama. It is located in the central part of the Kashmir Valley. Administration In 1979 Anantnag d ...
, Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. The attack resulted in the deaths of 46
Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role li ...
personnel and the attacker. The perpetrator of the attack was from Indian-administered Kashmir.


Balakot airstrike

After the attack, India said it targeted alleged militant camps of
Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000." Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azha ...
in an airstrike on Balakot, Pakistan, and killed a large number of militants. Pakistan condemned the violation of
Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
and vowed to retaliate. In a press conference, spokesperson of the
Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
, Major-General
Asif Ghafoor Asif Ghafoor (Urdu: آصِف غفور ) is a Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army. Currently serving as Quetta Corps Commander, he was previously appointed as Inspector General for Communication & Information Technology. He was the 20th Dir ...
, said that Pakistan will respond to the airstrike and will surprise India. Additionally, he rejected India's claims of hitting militant camps and causing any damage or casualties. Ghafoor said that if the airstrikes caused casualties, there would have been blood and funeral prayers, but not even a single brick or any debris was present there. He further stated that anyone can visit the site to verify the claims. However, the site was closed for one and a half month or 43 days before opened to foreign delegates.


Airstrikes

On 27 February 2019, Pakistan's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
announced that
Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
had conducted six airstrikes at non-military targets in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani officials stated that their fighter jets were able to lock onto the target with great accuracy but they were ordered to drop their bombs in an open space where there was no human presence to avoid any human loss or collateral damage. According to Pakistani officials, the strike was meant to demonstrate Pakistan's capability to do without any wanted further escalations. Pakistani Prime Minister
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
said that the strikes were meant to send a message to India. Indian Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor refuted Imran Khan's claim, he stated that “Pakistan claims they intentionally dropped weapons in open space where there was no human presence, however, they dropped bombs on military targets (for IAF's airstrike on terrorist camps). Therefore the escalation has been done not by us by him akistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. The PAF jets entered into Indian air space over Jammu and Kashmir's
Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...
and Nowshera sector to hit targets. The locations struck by the PAF jets were identified to be Nadian, Laam Jhangar, Kerri in
Rajouri District Rajouri (or Rajauri) is a district of Jammu region in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Line of Control lies to its west, Poonch to its north, the Reasi district to the east and the Jammu district to its south. Rajouri is f ...
and Hamirpur area of Bhimber Ghali in
Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...
by Indian officials. Indian officials, however, denied that the target of Pakistani airstrike were non-military targets. Indian officials claimed that the
Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
(PAF) jets had deliberately targeted military positions like the Indian army's 25th division headquarters, ammunition and supply depot. According to Indian Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, the Pakistani airstrike missed their intended target. PAF jets were intercepted by an unspecified number of IAF jets. The IAF fleet was composed of
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...
,
Sukhoi Su-30MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twinjet Multirole combat aircraft, multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian A ...
and
Dassault Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (''Arm ...
.


Initial Planning

At 8:45 AM, Pakistani airspace was shut down for civilian flights and all commercial flights were cancelled. PAF aircraft took off about 30 minutes later coordinating the timing with the changeover of IAF AWACS. A combination of 25 aircraft including F-16 and Mirage 5 made their way towards Indian airspace but stayed within Pakistani airspace. Some of the aircraft went south towards Rajasthan to act as decoys.


Aerial engagement

The announcement was followed by a tweet of Director-General of the ISPR, Maj Gen.
Asif Ghafoor Asif Ghafoor (Urdu: آصِف غفور ) is a Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army. Currently serving as Quetta Corps Commander, he was previously appointed as Inspector General for Communication & Information Technology. He was the 20th Dir ...
, which revealed that the Pakistan Air Force had shot down two Indian aircraft after they encroached on Pakistan's airspace. The ISPR stated that the wreckage of one of the aircraft fell in
Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...
while the other one fell in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. One of the aircraft which crashed in
Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...
was identified to be a
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...
flown by
Wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
Abhinandan Varthaman Abhinandan Varthaman VrC (born 21 June 1983) is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who, during the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, was involved in entering Pakistani airspace and his MIG 21 was shot down by Pakistani PAF F-16 on 27 February 2019 ...
. He was captured by a Pakistan military unit who were present in the premises. The villagers at the ground told Pakistani newspaper
Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
that they saw two jets in flame. However, Indian officials rejected Pakistani claims of shooting down IAF Su-30 MKI jets and said that they were an attempt by Pakistan to cover up the loss of its F-16. Indian sources claim that it is impossible to hide an aircraft crash as of now. Pakistan's
director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...
of
Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ( ur, ), is the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's civilian media and the civic society. The ISPR directo ...
(the official spokesperson of the armed forces of Pakistan) initially stated that it captured more than one Indian pilot and that one was admitted to CMH hospital, but changed their statement after some time and to say only one pilot is in their custody. This was later clarified to have been a "mistake" caused by fog of war. Indian officials initially denied that an
Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
(IAF) jet was shot down. They also claimed that all IAF pilots were accounted for and denied that any IAF pilot was captured by Pakistani security forces. Later, Indian officials acknowledged that one IAF
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...
was shot down and its pilot was in the custody of Pakistan security forces. The Indian Air Force also claimed to have shot down one
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from his MiG-21 aircraft. However, Pakistani officials rejected India's claim. Pakistani officials said that "in today's day and age, it is impossible to hide downing of an aircraft". On the Air Force day, 8 October 2019, IAF reportedly flew the Su-30 MKI claimed to have been downed by the Pakistan Air Force.


Friendly fire

On the same day, around twenty minutes before the MiG-21 downing, an Indian
Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...
helicopter crashed, killing six Indian Air Force personnel and one civilian in the
Budgam district Budgam district is a district in the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Created in 1979 with its headquarters at Budgam, it is the district with the largest population of Shias in the Kashmir valley. Administration Bud ...
. It was under the command of squadron leader Siddarth Vashista and crashed within ten minutes of take-off from the Srinagar air base. Indian defence ministry said it was an accident "during routine operation", but friendly fire was speculated to be the cause.
Ajai Shukla Ajai Shukla is an Indian journalist and a retired colonel of Indian Army.Ajai Shukla
Center for the Advanced ...
reported in April 2019 that the court of inquiry constituted by IAF to investigate the incident, had concluded that an Indian missile battery had misidentified the helicopter as Pakistani and shot it down. By late May, after the conclusion of voting in
2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and voter ...
, IAF sources had begun unofficially acknowledging friendly fire as the cause and the Air Officer Commanding of Srinagar air base was removed from the position. Investigations, typically finished in three months, were said to require more time in this case as the metallurgical report hadn't been received yet. In October 2019, IAF confirmed that the helicopter was shot down by an Indian
SPYDER The SPYDER ("Surface-to-air Python and Derby") is an Israeli short and medium range mobile air defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with assistance from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Rafael is the prime contractor a ...
surface-to-air missile and said that five personnel were held guilty for the lapses. The investigation found that the helicopter had not been identified as originating in Pakistan by the Integrated Air Command and Control System in
Barnala Barnala is a city in the state of Punjab of India. Barnala city serves as the headquarters of the Barnala district which was formed in 2006. Prior to formation of Barnala district, this city was located in Sangrur district. It is situated ne ...
and that it had been in touch with the
Air Traffic Control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
. But the helicopter's
Identification, friend or foe Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is an identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an ''interrogation'' signal and then sends a ''response'' that identifies the broadcaster. IFF systems usual ...
system, used to mark friendly aircraft, had been switched off due to interference with civilian transmissions and it had tried to land from outside the designated corridor of approach.


Aftermath


India

The Ministry of External Affairs in a press conference confirmed that the PAF violated the LoC and entered Indian airspace through the Nowshera and Poonch sectors, shooting down one IAF jet and causing its pilot to go missing. India also claimed to have shot down one PAF
F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...
. A claim which was denied by Pakistan saying no F-16 was used in the operation. Additionally, Indian officials rejected Pakistani claims of shooting down an
Su-30MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A varian ...
. Indian sources claim that it is impossible to hide an aircraft crash as of now. On 28 February, Indian officials again alleged that two Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets had violated Indian airspace. According to the Indian officials, the PAF jets were intercepted over the Poonch and Krishna Gati sectors. However, no aerial combat took place and PAF jets returned to their airspace. In April 2019, a joint Indian Air Force-Indian Army BDS unit claimed to have carried out a bomb defusal operation in Mendhar, Rajouri, where they had successfully defused 3-4 unexploded
H-4 SOW The H-4 SOW (Stand-Off Weapon) is a precision-guided glide bomb manufactured by NESCOM and deployed by the Pakistan Air Force, capable of striking targets at stand-off range. It has a terminal guidance system based on an infrared homing seeker ...
bombs that had been fired from PAF jets. The Indian Air Force was displeased with the performance of the
R-77 The Vympel NPO R-77 missile (NATO reporting name: AA-12 Adder) is a Russian active radar homing beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. It is also known by its export designation RVV-AE. It is the Russian counterpart to the American AIM-120 AMRA ...
missiles since they were outranged by the
AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...
used by Pakistan Air Force. Hence, they are planning to rearm using the I-Derby ER missile instead.


Pakistan

DG ISPR Asif Ghafoor later conducted a press conference, stating: "Since today morning activity has been ongoing at LoC. This morning PAF engaged six targets across LoC from within Pakistani airspace". He also said that the strikes were carried out to just demonstrate Pakistan's aggressive capabilities. Pakistan asserted that no F-16 was used in the operation. Initially, Pakistani officials stated that two IAF personnel were caught but later corrected their statement and stated that only one IAF personnel was in their custody. Pakistani officials stated that it was the fog of war that led them to believe that there were two IAF personnel in their custody. Prime Minister
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
addressed the nation saying that the sole purpose of our action was to convey that "if you can come into our country, we can do the same". Khan also offered India for peace talks.


United States

According to ''
Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' journalist Lara Seligman, U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the matter asserted that the US has recently completed a physical count of Pakistan's F-16s and has found none missing. One US official also disagreed with India's claim that usage restrictions disallow Pakistan from employing F-16s in military encounters with India. The Washington Post, Indian newspaper
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...
reported that a
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
spokesman claimed that he was "not aware" of any such investigation that was conducted and stated, "As a matter of policy, the Department does not publicly comment on details of government-to-government agreements on end-use monitoring of US-origin defence articles." However, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reported that like the Pentagon, the State Department has yet to issue any public statement on F-16 count. On the other hand, according to ''The National Bureau of Asian Research'', ''"The Modi Government’s public mischaracterizations of the February 2019 Balakot airstrike and subsequent air skirmishes, including subsequently debunked claims of a destroyed terrorist camp inside Pakistan and India’s downing of a Pakistani F-16 jet, have already raised questions in the United States about New Delhi’s credibility and communications strategy in the midst of an exceptionally dangerous regional context"''.Daniel S. Markey (January 27th, 2022).
The Strategic Implications of India’s Illiberalism and Democratic Erosion
'. pg. 100-101. The National Bureau of Asian Research. Article in Asia Policy 17.1.
Free Article Access Link
'. Archived
Version of Free Access Link
'. Retrieved January 29th, 2022.
In December 2019, ''
USNews ''U.S. News & World Report'' (USNWR) is an American media company that publishes news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. It was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and international-focused ...
'' reported that the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
had sent a letter to
Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
in August expressing its concern about the alleged misuse of F-16s during the skirmish in February. The letter mentioned the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
's confirmation that Pakistan had violated its agreement with the US by deploying
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
s and its complement of missiles to unauthorized forward air bases.


Exhibit

A statue of the Indian pilot Abhinandan was installed in the Pakistan Air Force museum in an exhibit named Operation Swift Retort. The exhibit also displays the missing parts and wreckage of the
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...
as well as a tea mug.


In media

An official Pakistani film on the topic was released on 14 August 2019. It was directed, produced and written by DJ Kamal Mustafa. The story of the film is based on the attack, and shows the
Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
response to the Indian attack and the capture of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. It is the only single animated film released in Pakistan in 2019. Operation Swift Retort was a non-profit movie. The ''Operation Swift Retort'' film was made entirely in 2 months.


References

{{Indo-Pakistani relations Conflicts in 2019 Jammu and Kashmir, 2019 2019 in Pakistan February 2019 events in India India–Pakistan border 2010s in Jammu and Kashmir 2019 in India History of Azad Kashmir India–Pakistan military relations Indo-Pakistani wars Kashmir conflict Military operations involving Pakistan 21st-century aircraft shootdown incidents