Fact Check: Captain Shiv Kumar Never Claimed India Lost Rafale, Sukhoi, Mirage Jets

Fact Check en

Defense Attache Captain Shiv Kumar of Indian Navy gave a statement on Operation Sindoor in a Seminar organized in Indonesia. His remark led to up-roar which prompted the Indian Embassy in Indonesia to release a press statement and explain. Simultaneously, a lot of deceptive information is being circulated in the social media context regarding the statement of Captain Shiv Kumar. The DFRAC team is giving a fact check of two such assertions, which are being presented in respect of the assertion of Captain Shiv Kumar and of the seminar in Indonesia.

Claim – 1

A user posted a caption on the statement made by Captain Shiv Kumar. The caption is, “I agree we have lost some aircraft. ~~ Captain (IN) Shiv Kumar. Yeah I agree too.  At least 3 aircraft so far have been lost. 1. Rafale that crashed in Bathinda 2. Mig-29 that crashed in Ramban area 3. Mirage-2000 that crashed landed in Wuyan near Pampore. How or why they crashed……….well!!’

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Fact Check

The DFRAC team researched some keywords at Google. In this we came across numerous media reports such as Aaj Tak, News-18 Hindi on the statement of Captain Shiv Kumar. It has not been stated anywhere that he has discussed the loss of Rafale, Sukhoi and Mirage jets. It is certainly stated in these media reports that Captain Shiv Kumar has discussed the loss of certain aircraft. Meanwhile, we have also located the video in full of this seminar. There is no place in this video that Captain Shiv Kumar has stated that India has lost Rafale, Sukhoi and Mirage fighter jets. In fact, in his presentation Captain Shiv Kumar was reacting to the assertions by another panelist Tommy Tamtomo who had indicated that India had lost numerous aircraft.

Claim – Two

A presentation slide of a seminar conducted in Indonesia has been posted by another user. It asserts, “Seminar of Indonesian Air Force on India-Pakistan conflict. The disgraceful war casualties of India: 3 Rafale jets were destroyed (~8.3 point fleet percentage), MiG-29 UPG: 1 was destroyed, Su-30MKI: 1 was destroyed, DRDO tactical drone: 1 was destroyed (the drone fleet is ~ 2 point), S-400: 2 launchers destroyed (the loss was 10 at one location)”

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Fact Check

In the course of investigation, the DFRAC team discovered that the viral presentation slide belongs to the presentation of one of the panelists who was there in the seminar, Tommy Tamtomo. Tommy Tamtomo is Vice Chairman of the Indonesia Center of Air Power Studies. And the figure cited by Tamtomo in the presentation is not an official one. Since in his speech he has stated that he has cited that figure owing to media reports. Otherwise, when he is giving his presentation, he even mentions that the claim that Rafale was shot down is also doubtful. Captain Shiv Kumar of India, who was an attendee of the seminar. He also refuted the claim in Tamtomo twice when he presented his presentation. Beside this, no official numbers of Indian military losses have been published during a clash against Pakistan.

Conclusion

The fact check provided by DFRAC clearly demonstrates that the claims published are misleading. Indian Captain Shiv Kumar has not spoken about the decommissioning of Rafale, Sukhoi and Mirage fighter jets. Meanwhile, when it comes to Indian sensations of the destruction of 3 Rafales, 1 MiG aircraft, 1 Sukhoi and S 400, this is not officially true.