How Pakistan J-10C Shot Down India, Invincible Rafale Jets in Historic Air Battle
In a stunning revelation that has sent shockwaves through military and defense circles, it has emerged that Pakistan successfully downed six Indian fighter jets including three of the highly advanced French-made Rafale aircraft during a four-day aerial conflict in May. The incident marks one of the most significant air combat engagements in recent history.
Although India initially denied losing any Rafale jets, confirmation later came from a French intelligence official, followed by a quiet acknowledgment from the Indian military that an unspecified number of aircraft had indeed been lost in the conflict.
How Pakistan Took Down the Rafale
According to an in-depth report published by Reuters, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), under the direct leadership of Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, strategically targeted India’s French Rafales after Indian airstrikes hit Pakistani territory in the early hours of May 7.
What followed was a massive hour-long nighttime dogfight, involving approximately 110 aircraft, making it the largest air combat operation in decades, according to defense experts.
The Game-Changer: China-Made PL-15 Missile
At the center of Pakistan’s successful defense was a critical Indian intelligence oversight regarding the range of the Chinese-made PL-15 air-to-air missile fired from Pakistan’s J-10C multirole fighter jets.
Indian pilots believed they were safely outside missile range, basing their strategy on the 150 km range of the PL-15’s export variant, as widely reported in open-source intelligence.
However, Pakistan’s actual missiles were capable of striking from approximately 200 km, catching the Indian aircraft completely off guard.
“We ambushed them,” said a senior PAF official, adding that the operation was aided by an electronic warfare attack that disrupted Indian communications and targeting systems.
Pakistani officials claimed the PL-15 missile strike that brought down the Rafale occurred at a range of around 200 km, while Indian officials conceded it may have been even further potentially marking the longest-range air-to-air kill in aviation history.
Technological Edge: Pakistan’s Integrated “Kill Chain”
According to the Reuters report, Pakistan’s success was not merely a matter of missile range, but the result of a sophisticated military coordination system known as a “kill chain.”
This multi-layered network linked air, land, and space-based sensors into a unified operational framework. A key component was Data Link 17, a Pakistani-developed system that connected Chinese-supplied military hardware with surveillance assets, including a Swedish-made airborne early warning aircraft.
This setup allowed J-10C fighters operating nearer to Indian airspace to receive radar data from a distant surveillance plane, letting them keep their radars off and stay invisible to Indian sensors until it was too late.
Strategic Implications
Defense analysts view this engagement as a wake-up call for regional air forces, particularly concerning the underestimated capabilities of Chinese military technology and Pakistan’s growing expertise in integrating diverse defense platforms.
The Rafale, touted as a near-invulnerable aircraft in the region, now faces serious questions about its survivability in contested airspace against evolving missile threats and integrated sensor networks.
As Pakistan’s Air Force continues to modernize and refine its warfare capabilities, this incident signals a major shift in the regional balance of aerial power one that could reshape future military planning across South Asia.
