Patriot wrote:On Day One of that mini war Paks made a claim they shoot down 2 aircrafts: one being MiG-21 (confirmed) and the other which was meant to be the Su-30MKI. Also Indians confirmed the Su-30 involvment in the operation but denied the loss of any Su-30. Also Paks denied F-16s involvement as well as denied a loss of any. Judging only by the Aim-120 piece we can assume Pak F-16s was likely there in contrary of what Paks says.
Could it be that MiG-21 shoot the F-16 down as Indians say? Or did Paks downed both MiG21 and Su-30 but for some good reason dont want to admit their F-16s were there?
Any of those and more are possibilities. The F-16 and SU-30 being the premiere air to air platforms used by either side, each has a vested interest insofar as covering up a loss.
Personally, I don't see where admitting to either is losing face. The ROE's and particulars of an engagement between the two would be far more telling. If an F-16 was shot down by a Flanker 1 vs. 1, that's one thing. If the F-16 was outnumbered 5 to 1 and shot down 4 Flankers before being downed by the 5th, that's quite another.
Regardless, the following maxim usually applies: "The first casualty of war is the truth...".