SOURCE: AFI
Air Commodore Nouman Ali Khan, a highly decorated PAF officer known for his MiG-21 kill in 2019, gave an exclusive interview to HUM News in late February 2025, where he claimed that stricter ROE prevented him from inflicting greater losses on the Indian Air Force during Operation Swift Retort.
Speaking to HUM News, Khan revisited the tense encounter, asserting that PAF jets adhered strictly to rules of engagement (ROE), which limited their actions to Pakistani airspace. “We shot down two Indian jets within those constraints,” he claimed. “If we had been given a free hand, more Indian jets could have been downed.” Khan’s assertion reflects Pakistan’s lack of will to do cross-border pursuits.
Air Commodore Nouman Ali Khan, then a Wing Commander and Officer Commanding No. 29 ‘Aggressor’ Squadron, emerged as a central figure in Pakistan’s narrative of the February 27, 2019, aerial engagement with India. Dubbed Operation Swift Retort, the PAF’s retaliatory strikes followed India’s Balakot airstrike a day earlier, targeting alleged terrorist camps. During the dogfight, Khan is officially credited with downing a MiG-21 Bison flown by Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman using an AIM-120C AMRAAM missile launched from his F-16.
Despite Pakistan’s claim of downing an Indian Su-30MKI during the 2019 air skirmish, concrete evidence remains elusive. India maintains no Su-30 was lost, and international observers have expressed skepticism. The PAF has not released electronic or radar data to substantiate the claim, and a recent board at PAF Base Sargodha further muddies the waters by linking the alleged Su-30MKI to Squadron 25, which operates An-32 transport aircraft.
Air Commodore Nouman Ali Khan’s claim that a “free hand” would have led to more downed Indian jets revisits the 2019 debate. However, the operational reality suggests otherwise. Following the engagement where Khan and three other F-16s encountered two Indian MiG-21s near the Line of Control (LOC) in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (POK), resulting in one MiG-21 being shot down, the PAF’s F-16 fleet was immediately recalled. This withdrawal occurred simultaneously with the detection of eight Indian MiG-29UPG fighters from Adampur Air Force Station and four Mirage-2000 aircraft from forward bases, all converging on the same area.
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