Pakistani air force releases AI video on Operation Sindoor as Discovery documentary shows real conflict footage

New Delhi: The Pakistani air force (PAF) has released a video on the occasion of their Air Force Day presenting its account of the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, claiming that Pakistani forces struck 32 Indian Air Force bases, destroyed eight Indian aircraft and hit two S-400 air defence systems. The video also depicts attacks on Indian military infrastructure, the national power grid, fuel supply chains and major national targets, including the Parliament of India.

The release comes days after Discovery Channel released a documentary on Operation Sindoor, which provides a visual account of the events that followed the April 22, 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam and India’s subsequent military response. While the documentary uses footage from the conflict and statements from Indian political, military and security leaders, the PAF video relies heavily on computer-generated and AI-generated visuals to depict its version of the fighting.

Discovery documentary on Operation Sindoor

The Discovery Channel documentary includes real footage from the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 innocent tourists, along with visuals documenting developments that followed the attack and India’s military response under Operation Sindoor. It also features footage of locations targeted during the operation and images showing damage at Pakistani military installations.

The documentary brings together footage from the ground with statements from senior Indian military and security officials who spoke about the operation and India’s response to terrorism. It also draws on footage and material that emerged during and after the conflict, including videos circulated on Pakistani social media platforms showing explosions and missile strikes.

The documentary features the former chief of the Army staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, who said that “terror and talks cannot go together”, outlining India’s position on cross-border terrorism. The national security advisor, Ajit Doval, also spoke about India’s response, saying India’s generosity and restraint should not be interpreted as weakness.

Doval also recounted the instructions of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, following the Pahalgam attack, saying those responsible for the terror attack would be pursued wherever they were.

The former chief of naval staff, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, said that an act of terror would be treated as an act of war, while Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, who was serving as director general of military operations during the conflict, said the Indian strikes targeted terrorist infrastructure and claimed that around 100 terrorists were killed.

The Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, also featured in the account of the operation, later describing the events as something that would be remembered for a long time. The statements provide the Indian military and security leadership’s account of the decisions and response surrounding Operation Sindoor.

PAF AI video claims strikes on Indian targets

The PAF’s newly released video presents a different account of the May 2025 fighting, using extensive computer-generated maps, satellite-style imagery, Pakistani fighter jets, parade footage and AI-generated sequences. The visuals depict Indian aircraft being destroyed, PL-15E missile launches, military installations being struck and missiles approaching Indian cities.

One graphic in the video claims that 32 Indian Air Force bases were hit, while another claims that eight Indian aircraft were destroyed, listing four Rafales, one Su-30MKI, one MiG-29, one Mirage-2000 and one Heron unmanned aerial vehicle. The video also claims that two Indian S-400 air defence systems were destroyed during the conflict.

Several sequences go beyond aircraft and air bases, depicting attacks on India’s power grid, fuel supply network and other infrastructure. The video also includes AI-generated imagery showing attacks on major Indian targets, including a sequence depicting missiles striking the Parliament of India.

The presentation combines these generated sequences with maps, military footage and clips of Pakistani aircraft to reconstruct what it presents as Pakistan’s account of the conflict. The visual material is therefore substantially different in character from the documentary footage used to portray events in the Discovery documentary.

India Pakistan differ over May 2025 conflict

Some of Pakistan’s claims in the new video had already been made during the May 2025 fighting. Pakistan had claimed that an Indian S-400 system was destroyed, but India rejected the allegation at the time, with the Press Information Bureau’s fact-check unit describing reports of damage to an S-400 as baseless. The two sides have also presented different accounts of aircraft losses. In August 2025, ACM Singh said the IAF had shot down five Pakistani fighter aircraft and another military aircraft during the conflict, saying electronic tracking data supported India’s assessment, while Pakistan has continued to maintain its own assessment