Ever notice how some stories, the louder they’re told, the less they seem to add up? Especially when it comes to military claims that travel faster than aircraft and last longer than the truth ever does.
This isn’t about disrespect; it’s about setting the record straight because in an age where facts are twisted into memes and history is rewritten at the speed of a trending hashtag, someone has to call out the tall tales.
Today, forget flag-waving and textbook heroics. Let’s take a hard look at the legends – who really won, who claimed what, who shot whom down, and what actually happened when the dust settled.
Let’s cut through the noise, the slick propaganda, the viral social clips, and get to what’s real: on the ground, in the air, and in those shadowy corners of information warfare where myth tries to outrun evidence.
This week, Pakistan celebrating Defence Day and Air Force Day with parades, patriotic posts and, of course, their annual relay of military myths. But we’re not here for party tricks, we’re here for reality checks– facts that are sharper than a MiG-21 radar lock.
Let’s rewind to 1965. So here’s what actually happened in 1965. Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar – basically sending infiltrators into Kashmir thinking Indians would just… give up? The plan was so brilliant, it was like expecting to win a chess match by eating the opponent’s pieces! When that didn’t work, they launched Operation Grand Slam to capture Akhnoor. But here’s the plot twist – India did something Pakistan never expected. They opened a second front and marched straight toward Lahore! Suddenly, Pakistan’s grand slam became a… grand scram.
Let’s talk numbers. According to declassified Pakistani documents – yes, their OWN records – by the second day of war, Army Chief General Musa Khan told President Ayub Khan that the army had ‘run out of ammunition.’ Meanwhile, India had barely used 14% of its frontline ammunition! And here’s the kicker – Pakistan lost more territory than it gained! They started this war to take Kashmir and ended up defending Lahore! It’s like going shopping for shoes and coming home without pants! But wait, there’s more! Pakistani textbooks claim they ‘successfully defended’ against Indian ‘aggression.’ This is like claiming you won a boxing match because you successfully absorbed all of your opponent’s punches with your face!
From day one, Operation Gibraltar was a disaster of epic proportions. The infiltrators were quickly discovered by Indian forces, and more importantly, the expected Kashmiri uprising never materialized.. In fact, many locals actively helped Indian authorities identify the infiltrators.
Out of the 9 infiltrating forces, only Ghaznavi Force under Major Malik Munawar Khan Awan managed to achieve any of its objectives in the Mendhar-Rajauri area. The rest? They were systematically hunted down and eliminated by Indian forces who had been put on high alert. By late August 1965, Operation Gibraltar had collapsed so completely that Pakistan was forced to launch Operation Grand Slam on September 1st – a conventional attack on Akhnoor to salvage something from the wreckage of their covert operation.
Here’s where Pakistan’s strategic miscalculation became a complete nightmare. India’s response was swift and devastating: instead of just defending in Kashmir, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri authorized a full-scale counter-offensive across the international border. On September 6, 1965, Indian forces launched attacks on Lahore and Sialkot suddenly, Pakistan found itself defending its own heartland instead of conquering Kashmir. The Indian Army reached within artillery range of Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, and came close to cutting vital communication lines.
The numbers tell the real story: According to multiple sources, including BBC analysis of official records:
- India captured 1,920 square kilometers of Pakistani territory
- Pakistan managed only 540 square kilometers of Indian territory
- Indian forces held strategic positions near Lahore and Sialkot
- Pakistan’s territorial gains were mainly in desert areas opposite Sindh
General Muhammad Musa Khan, Pakistan’s Army Chief during the 1965 war, later revealed in his memoir that by the second day of fighting, he had to inform President Ayub Khan that Pakistani forces were critically low on ammunition. Meanwhile, declassified Indian Ministry of Defence documents from 1992 revealed that India had used only 14% of its frontline ammunition when the ceasefire was declared. Let that sink in—Pakistan was scrambling for bullets while India was barely getting warmed up.
Pakistan had planned for a quick, limited conflict but found itself in a full-scale war it couldn’t sustain. By the war’s end, Pakistan had used close to 80% of its ammunition stocks while India maintained overwhelming reserve.
Human Cost:
- Pakistani military casualty: 3,800-5,800 soldiers
- Indian military casualty: 2,862-3,000 soldiers
Equipment Losses:
- Pakistan lost 450 tanks (destroyed or captured)
- India lost 97 tanks
- Pakistani aircraft losses: 43-73 aircraft
- Indian aircraft losses: 35-59 aircraft**
These aren’t Indian propaganda figures they come from multiple international sources and Pakistan’s own post-war assessments.
Pakistan Air Force had qualitatively better aircraft at the start (American F-86 Sabres vs. older Indian fighters), but India’s numerical superiority and higher sortie rate gradually wore down Pakistani capabilities. Air Marshal Arjan Singh later stated that IAF achieved air superiority within three days, and more tellingly, had the war continued, Pakistan Air Force would have been completely overwhelmed. Here’s the bottom line that Pakistani textbooks conveniently ignore: Pakistan initiated this war with specific objectives—capture Kashmir through insurgency, then conventional force. They achieved neither.
Now comes the crown jewel of Pakistani aviation mythology. September 7th, 1965 – the day that physics allegedly took a vacation over Pakistani airspace. Squadron Leader MM Alam, who allegedly shot down 5 Indian aircraft in less than a minute! That’s faster than it takes to heat up leftover biryani! According to Pakistani claims, on September 7, 1965, Alam achieved what would make Superman jealous. But here’s what aviation experts say – this is physically impossible! Even Chuck Yeager would struggle to achieve this!
The Physics of Fantasy
“Let’s do some math. To shoot down 5 aircraft in 60 seconds, Alam would need to:
- Lock onto a target every 12 seconds
- Fire, confirm kill, and move to next target
- All while flying at 600+ mph
- With 1960s technology
Total time required for 5 kills: 140-225 seconds minimum—and that’s under perfect conditions with no enemy evasion, no equipment malfunctions, and no return fire. But Pakistan claims this happened in under 60 seconds. That’s like claiming you can solve 5 Rubik’s cubes while riding a rollercoaster blindfolded!”
“Where’s the Evidence?”
“Here’s what’s missing:
- No gun camera footage (convenient, right?)
- Only 3 Hunter wrecks found (math doesn’t add up)
- Indian Air Force denies losing 5 aircraft that day
- Even Pakistani sources later quietly reduced the claim”
It’s almost like… and hear me out… someone might have exaggerated for propaganda purposes! Even Pakistan’s latest textbooks seem to have conveniently edited out this ‘world record’! So what actually happened? Squadron Leader MM Alam was indeed a skilled pilot who achieved aerial victories during the 1965 war. He likely shot down 2-3 Indian aircraft over several engagements—a respectable combat record that any air force would be proud of.
But somewhere between reality and textbook, 2-3 kills became 5 kills, several engagements became one engagement, and several minutes became less than 60 seconds.
Now Fast forward to February 27, 2019. After India’s Balakot strikes exposed Pakistani terror camps, Pakistan launched Operation Swift Retort. Initially,Pakistan claimed they shot down two Indian aircraft and lost none. But then something funny happened – Wing Commander Abhinandan’s MiG-21, using a missile older than most TikTokers, managed to down a Pakistani F-16! The evidence? Indian Army intercepted Pakistani radio communications mentioning TWO pilots and TWO aircraft down. Pakistan’s ISPR went into overdrive trying to hide this. They scrubbed records, threatened witnesses, and performed more cover-ups than a Bollywood makeup artist. Here’s where Pakistani information warfare reached new levels of creativity. Facing Indian claims of F-16 loss, Pakistan boldly challenged the US to ‘count’ their F-16 inventory—as if transparency was their middle name.
The propaganda machine went into overdrive: Pakistani media and officials repeatedly claimed that ‘American officials had physically counted all Pakistani F-16s and found none missing.’
But here’s the inconvenient truth: No official US government statement was ever made about any such count.
What actually happened:
- Foreign Policy magazine published a story citing ‘unnamed US officials’ claiming no F-16s were missing
- The Pentagon and State Department, when asked directly, said they were ‘not aware of any such audit
- Lockheed Martin, F-16’s manufacturer, denied making any statement about Pakistani inventory
- US officials repeatedly declined to confirm or deny the Foreign Policy report
In other words: The much-publicized ‘US count’ was an anonymous leak to one magazine, never officially confirmed by any US government agency.
Jump to May 2025 and Operation Sindoor. India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack. This time, Pakistan faced a very different kind of Indian response:
88 Hours of Systematic Dismantling:
- Pakistani radar networks were blinded
- Chinese-supplied HQ-9 missile systems destroyed
- Multiple Pakistani air bases hit from Chaklala to Karachi
- Pakistan Air Force reportedly set back by 5 years
When asked about F-16 losses during Operation Sindoor, the US response was dramatically different: ‘Ask Pakistan’. By May 10th, Pakistan was frantically calling for ceasefire.
Also Read, ISPR: An Insight Into Pakistan’s Disinformation Machinery
See a pattern here? Each embarrassment flips the story: impossible time claims, anonymous ‘sources,’ and when pressed, a wall of silence from the only authorities who could actually confirm anything. Whether it’s the F-16 circus, or MM Alam myths, the playbook is rinse, repeat, redecorate the narrative.
And it’s not just in the air – ISPR has been caught with doctored clips and forged news more than once. Even Bollywood sequels don’t recycle this much drama
Here’s what’s worth celebrating: Real sacrifice, true accountability, and the fact that, in the age of digital transparency, no propaganda can outrun a missile or a meme. You can fool some people for some time, but you can’t fool satellite imagery, radio intercepts, and physics.
