Russian media, the Russian Satellite Network reported on May 29, 2025, that the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Air Force, the top leader of the Indian Air Force, and the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force (equivalent to the Commander of the Indian Air Force), General Singh stated, "Major defense projects in India have not been implemented as scheduled," "especially fighter jets like the indigenous Tejas Mk1, have not been delivered to the Indian Air Force on time," "this is a big problem, no project in Indian aviation manufacturing has been completed on time," "why should we (Indian aviation companies) make promises that cannot be fulfilled (such as the timely delivery of LCA fighters)?", "the delivery of Tejas Mk-1 has been delayed, there is no sign of the Tejas Mk2 prototype, and there is even less of an AMCA stealth fighter prototype."

Screenshot of the report by the Russian Satellite Network on May 29, 2025.

General Singh, the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force, angrily criticized the LCA fighter jet.

Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force General Singh said, "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited received $5.62 billion, but not a single one of the 83 LCA fighters has been delivered to the Indian Air Force." It seems that Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force General Singh spoke the truth and severely criticized the insufficient production capacity of India's LCA fighter jets. However, General Singh suddenly launched a tirade against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, seemingly attempting to shift the responsibility for India's loss in the air battle with Pakistan on May 7 to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. According to General Singh's logic, if Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had produced 83 LCA fighters, then they could have crushed the Pakistani Air Force in the air battle.

Pakistani social media exposed that the FC-1/Fighter-17 fighter jet shot down a MiG-29 fighter jet, killing the Indian Air Force squadron leader.

He certainly knows that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited cannot deliver 83 LCA fighters within 10 years, and the LCA fighter jet is the only model left in the Indian Air Force that has not been declared shot down by the Pakistani Air Force. This is the "strongest domestically produced fighter" retained by the Indian Air Force. Since it is the strongest "domestic fighter jet," the insufficiency in quantity leading to inadequate combat capability cannot be blamed on the Indian Air Force for losing to Pakistan. After all, without the "strongest fighter jet," how can one fight? Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force General Singh played a masterful game of "passing the buck."

Missing Indian Air Force Rafale fighter pilot

The most infuriating thing for Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force General Singh was that the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, which is对标the Indian Air Force's LCA fighter jet and assembled domestically in Pakistan, successfully shot down an Indian Air Force MiG-29UPG fighter jet. The PL-15E air-to-air missile killed Squadron Leader Keshav Yadav, the commander of the Indian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet unit. He died on May 22, 2025, and was being treated at Udhampur Command Hospital before his death, eventually succumbing to his injuries. This means that the JF-17 Thunder Block-3 fighter jet has also achieved its first kill, and it was a "half MiG-29 (the JF-17 used only one RD-93 engine), taking out a MiG-29."

The JF-17 fighter jet achieved its first kill.

India surely envies the JF-17 fighter jet, so according to reports from the "Indian Defense Research" website, India has officially requested Russia to stop supplying RD-93 engines to Pakistan, blocking the power supply for the JF-17 fighter jet. Besides killing the commander of the Indian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet unit, the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet also destroyed one S-400 anti-missile radar vehicle and one command vehicle with CM-400AKG supersonic air-to-ground missiles.

India trying to strangle the JF-17 fighter jet with engines.

Moreover, even if Russia does not export engines, the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet can replace it with China's WS-13 engine, and there will be no worry about power for the Pakistan Air Force. For the Kalimov Design Bureau of Russia: "I'm still waiting to sell engines to buy rice to eat! Or would India purchase 100 RD-93 engines?"

The JF-17 fighter jet has proven its capabilities!

Meanwhile, satellite images show that the new hangar construction at the Naxos Air Base in Azerbaijan has been completed. These hangars are prepared for the JF-17 Thunder Block-3 fighter jets. If the Azerbaijan Air Force really buys 40 JF-17 Thunder Block-3 fighter jets, their air force combat capability might leapfrog to surpass that of the Turkish Air Force. Although the Turkish Air Force has the largest air force scale in Europe in terms of quantity, the F-16 fighters of the Turkish Air Force do not have phased array fighters or phased array long-range missiles.

Azerbaijan Air Force building new hangars for the JF-17 fighter jets.

The hourly flight cost for a MiG-29 is $18,000, while the hourly flight cost for the JF-17 is $7,600. If the Azerbaijan Air Force increases its JF-17 Thunder Block-3 fighter jets from 12 to 40 units, still top-of-the-line, to counter four Armenian Su-30SM fighters and Indian Akash surface-to-air missiles, without R-77 air-to-air missiles, the Armenian Air Force will have no chance of winning in the future.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7509976927189352997/

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