First Rafale lost in combat appears confirmed amid latest Indo-Pakistani hostilities

Following the end of the first week of May 2025, as the world waited to see whether ongoing Indo-Pakistani hostilities over the disputed region of Kashmir would escalate or dissipate, the inevitable propaganda war between the two states only served to cloud what has actually happened.

What does appear clear, however, is that the Indian Air Force has lost at least one of its French-supplied Rafale fighters, representing the first combat loss for the type since it first entered French service in 2001.

Following Indian air strikes launched in the early hours of 7 May (local time) at targets in both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir – an action designated as Operation ‘Sindoor’ – images emerged from Bathinda district in Punjab, around 240 km south of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, of the site of an air crash that same day. Somewhat conveniently for identification purposes, Rafale fighters even in French service have the name ‘RAFALE’ stencilled in block capitals on their tailfins. This was evident in the imagery, along with the serial number BS 001, which Mach III Publishing’s World Air Forces Directory confirms as the serial number of a single-seat aircraft that was one of 36 F3-R-standard Rafales delivered to India from July 2020.

Alongside this, a CNN report on 8 May said it could confirm that one Rafale came down “40 miles [64 km] inside India-controlled Kashmir”, which would represent a second Rafale loss in addition to the aircraft that came down in Bathinda.

Pakistan, meanwhile, claimed it had downed five Indian aircraft in the early hours of 7 May. Pakistani military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudry claimed Pakistani forces had shot down three Rafales, one Su-30 and one MiG-29.

It remains unclear exactly how any Indian aircraft were downed and the fate of the pilots is unknown.

The latest hostilities between India and Pakistan were precipitated by a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, in northern Jammu and Kashmir, on 22 April that targeted tourists and killed 26 people: the worst massacre of civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

In response, India said it launched missile and air strikes on nine sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, targeting what it called militant positions. Islamabad said 26 people were killed and 46 injured in those Indian strikes along with shelling across the Line of Control (LoC): the de facto border between India and Pakistan. The Indian military reported that 10 civilians were killed by Pakistani retaliatory shelling.

Both sides have subsequently accused the other of mounting missile attacks and strikes by armed unmanned aerial vehicles, with Pakistan, for example, claiming it had destroyed dozens of Israeli-made Harop loitering munitions that it claimed India used to attack various targets. The Indian Ministry of Defence stated on 8 May that it had targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan.

Claim and counter-claim continue on social media, clouding the reality on the ground, but meanwhile the hostilities have caused blackouts and the forced closure of dozens of airports and schools in the region.

As of 9 May around 50 people are understood to have been killed in the attacks.