Vadodara: Amid the uproar over a report in Foreign Policy magazine in the US that claimed that all the F-16 fighter planes given by America to Pakistan have been found to be ‘intact and accounted for’ during a recent physical count, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today rejected it and said that the writers of the article should do proper study of the ‘technical and factual’ evidences provided by the Indian Air Force to concretely prove the use of these aircraft by Pakistan to target the Indian military installations.

Addressing a press conference here Sitharaman said,’ the electronic signature of the aircraft intercepted by IAF radars was that of an F-16 fighter plane. This electronic signature, which is a kind of vibration or radiation during flight, is unique for every aircraft like the human signature. It was pretty clear that the electronic signature intercepted by IAF was that of an F-16.’

‘Prior to it after February 27 (the day of surgical strike in Balakot) also our Air Force had shown pieces of AMRAAM missile found on the Indian soil. This missile can be fitted only on F-16. How such a missile reached the Indian soil if F-16 was not used. From where had it come,’ She questioned.

She said that the woman writer ( Lara Seligman ) and others associated with the US magazine should study the factual and technical evidences provided by the IAF in this ragrad.

Notably, the report in the magazine claims that a US count of the F-16s with Pakistan has found that none of them are “missing” and all the fighter planes were “present and accounted for”.

It contradicts the earlier Indian claim that IAF shot down an F-16 fighter jet during an aerial fight on February 27.

India-Pak tension had escalated after Pulwama terror attack of February 14 in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a car bomb attack on their bus by a suicide bomber of terror outfit Jaish e Mohamed.

India had done surgical strike on terrorist camps in Balakot in Pakistan. The next day, Pakistan Air Force targeted a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan , who was later handed over to India on March 1.

 

Not aware, says Pentagon on Pak F-16 count

 

Washington:The United States Defence Department, Pentagon, has said it was “not aware” of any investigation that was conducted to ascertain if Pakistan had lost an F-16 in a dogfight with Indian fighter jets on February 27.
The media reports said here on Friday.

The Pentagon staement is contrary to a report by a news publication that had gone on to say, citing unidentified defence officials, the count revealed none was missing.

Foreign Policy magazine had reported Thursday that US defence personnel conducted recently a physical count of Pakistan’s F-16s and found all in tact, none missing. It attributed the finding to two unidentified senior US defence officials and said the count was conducted at the invitation of Pakistan.

A US Defence Department spokesman told in a statement,“ … weren’t aware of any investigation like that”, that was said to have been conducted, according to unidentified defence officials cited in a report.