IAF Tender For 36 Rafales Rips Apart Pakistan’s ‘We Shot Them Down’ Fairy Tale Again

New Delhi: In another self-inflicted humiliation, Pakistan’s shrill, copy-paste repetitive claims of “downing multiple Indian Rafales” during Operation Sindoor have once again imploded, crushed under the sheer weight of its own desperate lies. An official Indian Air Force tender floated in June 2026 is asking for 5 months of “bridge support” covering the entire fleet of 36 Rafales procured from France. 

The tender cleared the confusion, proving that even if a single jet had been lost, as Islamabad’s propaganda machinery insisted, the maintenance numbers in an Air Headquarters request for proposal would not add up. Notably, the RFP seeks logistics, technical and engineering backing for all 36 aircraft, planning for around 2250 flying hours till a long-term contract takes over after September 2026.

The document surfaced at a time when Pakistan’s official handles and friendly media outlets were still recycling the story of multiple Rafales destroyed. The defence experts asserted that it was a familiar script, to scream victory online while their airfields and terror hubs were being picked apart by the Indian Air Force (IAF) jets, they pretend to have downed. The Rafale fleet spearheaded India’s precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. The Indian defence officials have repeatedly stated that the jets performed exactly as designed and rejected every claim of combat losses.

The latest tender regarding the Rafale fighter jets is not just paperwork, but it is a public ledger of operational reality. The bridge support is being arranged precisely because the fleet is intact and flying. The June 2026 RFP therefore delivered another dose of embarrassment for Islamabad, which has tried to deflect global attention from its own staggering failures and the pounding it received during Operation Sindoor by manufacturing fairy tales of aerial triumphs.

Tender For 36 Jets Buries Islamabad’s Narrative

The Air Headquarters RFP explicitly invited bids for a 5-month support package covering all 36 Rafales acquired through the government-to-government deal with France. The requirement is for maintenance, logistics and technical sustainment to keep the fleet mission-ready beyond September 2026. A projected 2250 flying hours are built into the plan, a figure impossible when Pakistan’s version of events was true. India’s military action comprised pinpoint strikes on terror hubs inside Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, with Rafales at the centre of that operation.

Following the IAF's action, Pakistan flooded official statements and social media with claims of having shot down several Indian Rafale fighters. New Delhi dismissed those assertions as disinformation and accused Islamabad of running a propaganda campaign to mask its heavy losses. The June 2026 document reinforced India’s consistent position that no Rafales were lost. 

In fact, earlier evidence had already dented Pakistan’s story, as several jets with tail numbers that Pakistani accounts declared destroyed were later photographed and filmed taking part in operational flying. Pakistan’s attempt to shift the world’s gaze from the battlefield setbacks by peddling lies has been exposed naked before the world once again.

The defence officials maintained throughout that the Rafales executed their role during Operation Sindoor without a scratch. The aircraft carried out deep precision strikes, and the IAF has consistently denied any combat losses. The current tender is the latest official record confirming the fleet’s full strength and readiness, dealing another blow to Islamabad’s narrative.

India Pushes Ahead With 114 More Rafales Under MRFA

At a time when Pakistan chases phantom kills, India is accelerating its own capability. Reports suggested that New Delhi is progressing with plans to acquire an additional 114 Rafale fighters from French manufacturer Dassault Aviation under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft programme. The proposal was discussed during recent talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that the Rafale discussions have moved forward, with the Prime Minister stressing the ‘Make in India’ vision and pushing for a framework of co-development, co-design and co-production for future defence projects with France. The reports further confirmed that under MRFA, 18 jets are expected in flyaway condition, while the rest will be built in India with about 50 percent indigenous content.

The experts asserted that Pakistan can keep shouting into the void, but Air Headquarters documents do not lie. Every maintenance hour, every logistics contract for all 36 Rafales is a quiet and official rebuke to Islamabad’s fiction. They mocked the neighbour, saying that the only thing Pakistan actually shot down during Operation Sindoor was its own credibility.