F-16 fighter jet manufacturer Lockheed Martin refuted claims made by Pakistani officials that it would file a law suit against India for “claiming that the MiG-21 Bison of the Indian Air Force had shot down one of its planes”.
Lockheed Martin made the clarification on its Twitter handle after a media report was doing the rounds in Pakistan, shared by a official, Danyal Gilani.
“F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin to file law suit against false Indian claims & expresses annoyance over the factually incorrect claim of shooting down of Pakistan’s F-16 by IAF. Says all F-16s on Pakistani inventory r well counted for!,” tweeted Danyal Gilani.
The fighter jet manufacturer rubbished the claims tweeting, “Lockheed Martin has made no such comments”.
Lockheed Martin has made no such comments.
— Lockheed Martin India (@LMIndiaNews) 1 March 2019
After Lockheed Martin India refuted Gilani’s claims, Pakistan’s former press secretary to PM deleted his tweet and even thanked the jet manufacturer.
Tensions escalated on Wednesday as Indian and Pakistani fighter jets engaged in an aerial combat with an Indian MiG-21 aircraft shooting down Pakistan’s F-16 before crashing on the other side of the Line of Control in Kashmir and its pilot getting captured by the Pakistan army.
The IAF presented the wreckage of AM-RAAM missile as a conclusive evidence to show that Pakistan used F-16s to target Indian military installations.
Pakistan had earlier claimed that no F-16, which it has bought from the US, was part of the operation.