The largest air battle in modern times! 125 Indian and Pakistani fighter jets engaged in an hour-long dogfight
12:31 2025/05/08 China Times News
Cai Wenying
The largest air battle in modern times broke out between India and Pakistan, with 125 fighter jets fighting in the air for an hour. The picture shows a Pakistani mosque that was attacked by Indian airstrikes. (Reuters)
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have erupted in their most serious conflict in more than 20 years. India yesterday (7th) launched attacks on "so called" terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in retaliation for the massacre of 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month. The two sides exchanged fire yesterday, and Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian planes. A Pakistani official revealed that the two countries dispatched a total of 125 fighter jets and the fighting lasted for more than an hour, making it one of the largest and longest air battles in modern aviation history.
CNN reported that a senior Pakistani security official told CNN that the "dogfight" between Indian and Pakistani fighter jets in the air that day was "one of the largest and longest air battles in modern aviation history." The source revealed that a total of 125 fighter jets were dispatched from both sides and the fighting lasted for more than an hour, but neither side entered the other's airspace. The missile exchanges between the two countries sometimes even exceeded 160 kilometers.
As a result of a smaller-scale air battle that broke out in 2019, an Indian Air Force pilot was shot down over Pakistani territory and was publicly displayed on Pakistani television before being returned to India. This time neither side wanted to repeat the humiliation of the past, so both sides avoided sending pilots to cross the border to fight.
The source also pointed out that the Indian Air Force sometimes has to launch multiple attacks on a target. Pakistan tried its best to warn civilians in areas that might be targeted in advance, allowing the military to minimize civilian casualties.
