Pakistan Has Nothing To Show Except Rafale Claims: Tom Cooper On Rising Bharat

Last Updated:February 28, 2026, 16:50 IST

Tom Cooper at Rising Bharat: “Pakistan has nothing to show except for Rafale claims…"

Tom Cooper, Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian, highlighted Pakistan’s misinformation and disinformation campaign during Operation Sindoor as he spoke at the Rising Bharat summit on Saturday.

“Pakistan has nothing to show except for Rafale claims…," he said.

“Even if they have theoretically, they have lost the war, and just won one airbattle, whether they have won or not…India struck terror targets. Therefore, Pakistan claimed winning one battle…The same people, idea was behind the 9/11 attacks…Pakistan is well-connected in the West. India now needs to win the public narrative," said Cooper.

ALSO READ | Op Sindoor Took Pakistan By Surprise, They Didn’t Respond To India’s Strikes For 1 Hour: Tom Cooper

Cooper also said, “When comparing official Pakistani statements with what one can track on social media in Urdu, the two stories are not fitting…During his press conference, which was accepted in the West, Pakistani Air Vice-Marshall was explaining how they tracked Indian aircraft approaching the border and scrambled defence…It turns out Indian airstrike came in, hit selected targets in Pakistan and there was no reaction for at least 15 minutes…No scrambling of jets was heard. Only reaction was from Noor Khan airbase. Whatever happened happened after one hour. During this time, Indian aircraft and Army completed the mission and returned safely with no damage."

“Militaries operate their own network, which is used to fuse information. What is the current status? What are the stocks, weaponry, fuel? All of this is fed into the same command centre in a centralised fashion. We have seen this at work in India during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. When all the information was fused into one system – the army, airforce — in order to superbly coordinate on operation," said Cooper.

What were the Rafale claims?

The Pakistan Air Force had falsely claimed that a aircraft was shot down during the four-day military stand-off following Operation Sindoor. Pakistan-based propaganda accounts had also alleged that Pakistan destroyed Indian Rafale fighter jets and S-400 air defence systems during Operation Sindoor. India, however, clarified that none of its Rafale jets suffered any harm or damage during the operation.

How India gave proof that Pakistan’s claims were false

The Indian Air Force (IAF) led the grand finale of the 77th Republic Day parade on Kartavya Path with a spectacular aerial fly-past, displaying India’s aerial might. Notably, the Rafale fighter jet with tail number BS-022 was also seen in the Republic Day video released by the IAF.

This Rafale jet was the same that Pakistan claimed to have downed.

As part of the fly-past, multiple aircraft, including Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Jaguar, Apache helicopters and the Indian Navy’s P-8i aircraft flew in coordinated formations over Kartavya Path. The fly-past featured 29 aircraft, including 16 fighter jets, four transport aircraft and nine helicopters.

Operation Sindoor

India launched “precision strikes" under Operation Sindoor on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.

In its initial phase, the Indian Air Force focused on dismantling terror camps linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The strikes killed over 100 terrorists, including 10 family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and four close aides.

In a decisive second phase, carried out on the night of May 9–10, Indian forces retaliated with strikes on a string of major Pakistani airbases, including Nur Khan, Sargodha, Jacobabad, Murid, and Rafiqui, inflicting damage that Islamabad is still struggling to account for publicly.

The operation sparked four days of cross-border fighting involving fighter jets, missiles and artillery.

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