IAF S-400 unit downed Pakistani aircraft at 314 km, Defence Ministry report says
The Defence Ministry's 2025-26 annual report says an IAF S-400 unit destroyed a Pakistani special-mission aircraft at 314 km during Operation Sindoor.
An Indian Air Force S-400 air-defence unit brought down a Pakistani special-mission aircraft at a range of 314 km during Operation Sindoor, according to the Defence Ministry's Annual Report for 2025-26. The engagement is described as one of the longest surface-to-air kills claimed by India and as evidence of the IAF's long-range air-defence reach.
The report says Indian radars tracked the target without emitting, and a long-range surface-to-air missile was guided to the outer edge of its engagement envelope. The outcome, it notes, undercut the assumption that distance alone could shield an adversary from Indian air-defence systems.
The shoot-down formed part of a wider integrated air-defence effort during the four-day conflict of May 7-10, 2025. The IAF ran the campaign through centralised control and coordination built on its indigenous Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), which fused military and civil surveillance feeds into a common Recognised Air Situation Picture for all stakeholders.
Operations were directed through IAF Networked Tactical Nodes at several locations. These nodes handled the identification and classification of aerial targets, and the report credits trained operators with ensuring that civil aircraft were not engaged during the hostilities.
The report also states that Pakistan left its civil airspace open during the conflict, with civil flights operating amid hostile action, while India's approach sought to avoid endangering international air traffic.
Beyond air defence, the IAF struck Pakistani air-defence radars, command-and-control centres and military infrastructure at Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Murid, Sargodha, Jacobabad and Bholari, the report says. It adds that Pakistan carried out escalatory actions between May 8 and 10 against military assets as well as civilian infrastructure, places of worship, schools and medical facilities.
India's response is characterised in the report as "calibrated but punitive", aimed at "demonstrative compellence" — the use of precise military action to push the adversary to halt further escalation. After the precision strikes, Pakistan sought a cessation of hostilities, it says.
The report records that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Air Force Station Adampur on May 12, 2025, and commended the air warriors involved. It also notes that 219 Presidential Gallantry Awards were conferred on IAF personnel on August 15, 2025, for their role in the operation.