1. @nytimesworld you can draw your own conclusions, but dont basic reporting guidelines mean you at least report the detailed Indian claim that the IAF MiG 21 Bison shot down an F-16 before being downed itself ? https://t.co/7qNPw5F9qs— Vishnu Som (@VishnuNDTV) March 4, 2019
Economic Times/New York Times: India dogfight loss raises questions about its ‘vintage’ military
The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades, was a rare test for the Indian military — and it left observers a bit dumbfounded.
NEW DELHI: It was an inauspicious moment for a military the United States is banking on to help keep an expanding China in check.
An Indian Air Force pilot found himself in a dogfight last week with a warplane from the Pakistani Air Force, and ended up a prisoner behind enemy lines for a brief time.
The pilot made it home in one piece, however bruised and shaken, but the plane, an aging Soviet-era MiG-21, was less lucky.
The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades, was a rare test for the Indian military — and it left observers a bit dumbfounded. While the challenges faced by the India’s armed forces are no secret, its loss of a plane last week to a country whose military is about half the size and receives a quarter of the funding was still telling.
If intense warfare broke out tomorrow, India could supply its troops with only 10 days of ammunition, according to government estimates. And 68 percent of the army’s equipment is so old, it is officially considered “vintage.”
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WNU Editor: A sobering analysis form the New York times, and one that India is not happy about .... Indians Blast NYT for "Biased" Reporting on Aerial Dogfight Between MiG-21, F-16 (Sputnik).
