2️⃣ Critical Clarification: This Was NOT May 5–10
This February 23, 2026 event did not take place during the May 5–10 operational skirmish window.
That distinction matters.
Conflating a peacetime training or runway event with a high-tension operational episode would be analytically flawed. Deployment decisions during May 5–10 were separate strategic calculations.
However, observers did note something: Tejas was not prominently featured during that window. That raises legitimate discussion about platform deployment hierarchy within the IAF. It does not prove weakness. But absence from high-visibility operational signaling invites evaluation.
Evaluation is not propaganda. It is force structure analysis.
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