2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes

2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes
	Part of the 2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
Date	27 February 2019
Location	Jammu and Kashmir, India33°23′N 74°18′E / 33.38°N 74.3°E
Belligerents
Pakistan Pakistan Air Force;	India Indian Air Force;
Commanders and leaders
Arif Alvi; (President); Imran Khan; (Prime Minister); Qamar Javed Bajwa; (Chief of Army Staff) Mujahid Anwar Khan; (Chief of Air Staff)	Ram Nath Kovind; (President); Narendra Modi; (Prime Minister); Bipin Rawat; (Chief of Army Staff) Birender Singh Dhanoa; (Chief of Air Staff)
Units involved
No. 15 Squadron "Cobras"; No. 16 Squadron "Black Panthers"; No. 24 Squadron "Blinders"; Combat Commanders School No 29 Aggressor Squadron; ;	No. 51 Squadron IAF; No. 154 Helicopter Unit, IAF;
Strength
Strike aircraft 2 Dassault Mirage-IIIDA; 2 Dassault Mirage-VPA armed with H-4 SOW; 2 JF-17 Thunders armed with Mk. 83 REKs Escort & EW support Unspecified number of F-16 & JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft, Falcon DA-20 EW/ECM/ESM and Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C aircraft	Unknown number of MiG-21, Su-30MKI and Mirage 2000 jets ; Air defense system on ground
Casualties and losses
Neutral Assessment:; No aircraft lost; Indian claim:; 1 F-16 shot down; Pakistani claim:; No PAF aircraft shot down	Neutral Assessment:; 1 MiG-21 shot down, pilot (Abhinandan Varthaman) captured.; Pakistani claim:; 1 MiG-21 shot down, pilot (Abhinandan Varthaman) captured and 1 Su-30MKI shot down.; Indian claim:; 1 MiG-21 shot down, pilot (Abhinandan Varthaman) captured, No Su-30MKI got shot down; Friendly fire:; 1 Mil Mi-17 shot down, 6 Indian Air Force personnel including Squadron leaders Siddharth Vashisht and Ninad Mandavgan and 1 civilian killed

On 27 February 2019, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) conducted six airstrikes at multiple locations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The airstrikes were part of the PAF military operation codenamed Operation Swift Retort and were conducted in retaliation to the Indian Air Force (IAF) airstrike in Balakot just a day before on 26 February.

It was the first time since 1971 that both countries' airforces had conducted airstrikes on each other's territory across the Line of Control (LoC). India conducted an airstrike in Balakot on 26 February while Pakistan responded by conducting airstrikes in Indian-administered Kashmir. Following Pakistan's airstrikes, Indian Air Force (IAF) jets started pursuing Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets. In the resulting dogfight, Pakistan claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured one Indian pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman. Indian officials acknowledged that one IAF jet was lost. One IAF Mil Mi-17 helicopter was also lost due to a friendly fire incident in which six IAF personnel were killed including two squadron leaders, Siddarth Vashista and Ninad Mandavgane. Indian officials also claimed to have shot down a PAF F-16 jet. Pakistan rejected the Indian claim and said that the PAF did not suffer any losses in the dogfight. US count of PAF F-16 fleet found no F-16 was lost during PAF engagement with IAF.