Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier has categorically refuted Pakistan’s assertion that it shot down three Rafale fighter jets belonging to the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor, calling the claim “factually incorrect.”
During an interview with the French magazine Challenges, Trappier categorically stated, "What Pakistan is saying about having shot down three Rafales is not the case."
He went on to add that Dassault Aviation, which produces the Rafale jets, has not received any official communication from the Indian Air Force regarding any such losses. "What we know already is that what the Pakistanis are claiming about destroying three Rafale aircraft is not true," he again said.
Trappier suggested there was more to come in the full picture: "When the whole picture is available, the reality can amaze many."
The comments are made following Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif claiming Pakistani troops shot down five Indian planes — three of which were Rafales — and took Indian personnel into custody after India conducted its deep-strike operation. But Islamabad has yet to put forward credible evidence to support these assertions.
India has already flatly ruled out loss of any aircraft in Operation Sindoor, a targeted military operation against terror infrastructure deep within Pakistani territory. The operation was undertaken after the Pahalgam massacre in Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 foreign tourists were killed in a terrorist attack blamed by Pakistan-backed terrorists.
Missile strikes subsequent to the air attacks inflicted considerable damage on major Pakistani Air Force establishments, Indian sources confirmed.
Talking just before the Paris Air Show, Trappier also underscored the capabilities of Rafale by calling it a world-class multirole fighter aircraft. "If you need one aircraft that can perform air-to-air combat, reconnaissance, ground attack, nuclear deterrent, and aircraft carrier deployment, then Rafale has no peer," he said.
Though accepting the stealth advantage of the American-made F-22 Raptor, Trappier asserted that the Rafale has open advantages over the F-35 in operational flexibility. He also dismissed Chinese warplanes as less impressive in comparison. "It's much better than anything China currently has," he asserted.
Defence analysts and experts have routinely rejected Pakistan's account as disinformation for internal consumption. Others have referred to a common pattern of exaggerations in the absence of confirmable evidence.
The scandal highlights the increasing strategic significance of the Rafale in India's defence capabilities and contributes to the wider geopolitical tensions in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
Read also| IDF Rejects Iran’s Report on F‑35 Loss, Accuses Iranian Outlets of Spreading Lies
Read also| Home Secretary to Head PM‑Backed High‑Level Panel Probing Air India Flight AI‑171 Crash
