Confirming rumors that emerged in May, during the height of the so-called Operation Sindoor, interviewed officers from both sides confirmed that the PL-15E missiles with which China equipped the Pakistan Air Force’s J-10C fighters were the key element that allowed them to shoot down the French-made Rafale fighters flown by Indian pilots. In particular, there was mention of intelligence failures regarding the estimated range of this type of weaponry, which is reportedly capable of striking targets up to 200 kilometers away.
Expanding on the details, a Reuters report indicated that the Indian officers consulted believed their Rafale aircraft could remain safe at a distance exceeding 150 kilometers—the range previously estimated for the Chinese missiles in their export variant. This facilitated what the Pakistani counterparts called an “ambush,” in which various electronic warfare systems were also used to jam the equipment of the Indian Air Force aircraft, exploiting this intelligence gap to strike targets with the proven long-range missiles.
It is worth recalling that India has not officially acknowledged that any of its Rafales were actually shot down during the engagements with their Pakistani counterparts, let alone the intelligence errors hinted at by the interviewed officers. However, the news of the shootdowns had a real impact—not only in terms of the combat between the two neighboring countries, but also in faraway Europe.
In line with this, it is worth noting that in June, the Chief of the French Air Force publicly stated that he had seen evidence of the losses of Indian aircraft, including Rafale and Sukhoi fighters operated by the country. Almost simultaneously, executives from Dassault also acknowledged this before French lawmakers, although they refrained from providing precise details. For the company itself, the shootdowns also had an unfavorable impact, as its share price fell when the news became public.
Finally, it is important to highlight the role of what Pakistani officers have referred to as “attack chains,” which can be understood as an extensive network of land-, air-, and space-based aerial surveillance sensors. According to Pakistani officials, the formation of this network allowed their J-10Cs to greatly expand their situational awareness during operations, even enabling them to fly without turning on their own radars to make detection more difficult.
This network was also equipped with various Chinese-origin systems, coordinated by a locally developed Data Link 17 system, complemented by at least one Swedish-made surveillance aircraft. Its relevance was such that, once the most recent hostilities ended, China sent a delegation of its Air Force officials to evaluate how Pakistan had managed to assemble this network and employ it in combat. Among the members of this delegation was Lieutenant General Wang Gang.
Images used for illustrative purposes
You may also like: China is believed to have completed the delivery of the first new Z-10ME attack helicopters to the Pakistani Army
