section_path: Aerial strikes and skirmishes/Aerial skirmishes
section_name: Aerial skirmishes
paragraph_text: Aerial skirmishes
  
  On 7 May, Indian and Pakistani fighter jets battled for over an hour. Pakistan claimed that three Dassault Rafales, one MiG-29, one Su-30MKI fighter jet, and one Israeli-manufactured IAI Heron UAV belonging to the Indian Air Force were shot down. If true, would first time that a French-origin Dassault Rafale has been lost in combat, reportedly having been shot down by the Chinese-origin Chengdu J-10. This, along with the performance of Chinese-origin PL-15E missiles in the combat, reportedly gained global attention.
  
  Indian military claimed that Pakistan jets were prevented from entering the Indian airspace and that "a few" of their fighter jets have been intercepted and the wreckages were outside Indian borders. The exact numbers were not revealed. Pakistani military claimed one of its aircraft suffered minor damage in a confrontation with India. On 12 May 2025, the Indian military showed the supposed wreckage of what it claimed to be a Mirage III or Mirage 5, claiming its interception.
  
  On claimed jet losses, the Indian Air Force said "losses are a part of combat" without additional details, adding that all pilots were back home. According to France 24, India's refusal to confirm or deny the loss of the jets gave further credence to the downing claims. Defence analyst Michael Clarke told Al Jazeera that if India had lost a Rafale jet, "that would certainly be embarrassing." He added that if the aircraft had come down within Indian territory, India would likely try to keep it as an unconfirmed rumour for as long as possible, and that its general statement on "inevitable losses" might be the closest it comes to confirmation. On 31 May 2025, India's Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan admitted that India lost jets, but dismissed Pakistan's claim of downing six fighter jets. According to him, this resulted in corrections in India's warfighting tactics during the Armed Forces' further strikes on 7, 8 and 10 May.
  
  According to Pakistan, the Pakistan Air Force intercepted and destroyed 84 Israeli-made Harop drones, sent by India. The Pakistan Air Force reiterated its earlier claims of downing five Indian fighter jets, including Rafale aircraft, and added purported crash locations, a description of interception of combat formations and flight data, as well as what they said was a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcript of the pilot's final communications.
  
  In press releases by Press Information Bureau, the Indian government claimed that during the first strikes on terror camps the Indian Air Force had "bypassed and jammed Pakistan's Chinese-supplied air defence systems" and the operation was conducted without the loss of any Indian asset. Additionally, India said its air defense systems successfully intercepted and shot down hundreds of drones and loitering munitions launched by Pakistan.