‘Let’s Count Jets’: Old Images Falsely Shared As Pak Showing ‘Intact’ Fleet After IAF Chief Says 6 PAF Planes Downed

Several pro-Pakistan handles on X are circulating a set of three images, claiming that the country is publicly displaying its whole fleet of military aircraft, while challenging India to do so.

 “After India’s claim of shooting down 6 Pakistani jets, Pakistan has opened its inventory for counting. Your turn, India care to match?” reads the post, which is going viral after the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief recently stated that it shot down six Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft during Operation Sindoor in May.

The archived version of the post can be seen here, which has clocked 306K views so far.

What Did The IAF Chief Say?

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Saturday (August 9) confirmed that India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one early-warning aircraft during Operation Sindoor, the military move targeting terror infrastructure, which was launched on May 7 to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam attack.  However, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif rejected the statement, saying India had not hit or destroyed a single Pakistani aircraft.

Fact Check

Newschecker ran a keyword search for “PAF Pakistan aircraft display”, which did not lead us to any credible news reports nor an official statement by Pakistan government or PAF, sharing photographs of its military planes and challenging India to a count of the aircraft in their respective fleets following the IAF chief’s statement.

Image 1

Newschecker ran a reverse image search, which led us to the same photograph featured in this Chinese write-up in an online forum, dated March 18, 2022, over three years before Operation Sindoor. The post stated that PAF introduced its J-10C fighter jets, marking a major breakthrough in China’s high-end military aircraft exports.

“The Pakistan Air Force on Friday (11/03) formally unveiled six new Chinese-made J-10C multirole fighters during a ceremony held at Minhas Air Base in Kamra,” read this March 11, 2022 report, translated from Portuguese, sharing the viral image. A similar X post, dated March 11, 2022, sharing the viral image, can be seen here.

Image 2

Newschecker ran a reverse image search, which led us to the same image featured in this January 6, 2022 article on aviation news portal Aeroflap, headlined, “First series-produced Pakistani JF-17C fighters appear in photos.”

“After a period of testing with fighter prototypes between 2019 and 2021, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), in collaboration with China, has already completed the serial manufacture of the first JF-17C Block III aircraft. Photos of the first fighters have been circulating in recent hours on the internet, showing a set of several planes in the courtyard of an Air Base in Pakistan, read the report. Similar January 2022 reports can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral image predated Operation Sindoor.

Image 3

Newschecker ran a reverse image search, which led us to the same photograph shared in this Reddit post on April 28, 2020, well before the clashes in May, stating that it showed PAF F-16s lined up at Air Base Mushaf, Sargodha. A further search led us to this ARY News report, dated September 5, 2017, featuring an uncropped version of the image as a representative photograph of PAF assisting relief operations in rain-affected areas of Karachi. We also came across the photograph in this April 29, 2011 post on an online forum that discusses matters related to Pakistan defence.

Also Read: Did Piers Morgan Say ‘West Cannot Defeat India’? Here’s What We Found About Viral Audio

Conclusion

Viral images claiming to be of Pakistan publicly displaying its intact fleet of military aircraft after India said it downed six PAF planes during Operation Sindoor were found to be old.

Sources
Cavok report, March 11, 2022
Aeroflap report, January 6, 2022
ARY News report, September 5, 2017