Wednesday’s dogfight between India and Pakistan left many with questions and concerns about the capability of Chinese-made aircraft and weapons.
Newsweek reported, the dogfight took place for over an hour Wednesday and involved 125 fighter jets, making it one of the largest air battles to occur since World War II.
According to Pakistani sources, five Indian planes were downed.
Both were in their own airspace, firing missiles at distances over one hundred miles.
Reuters reported, Pakistan used Chinese-made fighter jets, and India’s were from France.
Reuters said, this is an opportunity for the United States and China to study the performance of the aircraft.
The U.S. is confident Pakistan used China‘s J-10, according to an unnamed U.S. official.
The J-10 fighter jet was developed beginning in the 1980s to close a gap in defense technology with the West, according to Defense Feeds.
In 2022, Pakistan became the first country to import the latest variant, the J-10C.
Will the conflict between Pakistan and India escalate?
Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Reuters, “Air warfare communities in China, the U.S., and a number of European countries will be extremely interested to try and get as much ground truth as they can on tactics, techniques, procedures, what kit was used, what worked and what didn’t.”
Analysis is also being conducted on the missiles used in the dogfight — Pakistan using China’s PL-15 air-to-air missile, and India using the Meteor, a radar guided air-to-air missile.
“You have arguably China’s most capable weapon against the West’s most capable weapon, if indeed it was being carried; we don’t know that,” Barrie said.
One member of the defense industry told Reuters that the PL-15 is a “big problem.”
The executive added, “It is something that the U.S. military pays a lot of attention to.”
Reuters indicated that little is still known at this stage, including the training both sides went through before engaging in combat and the exact types of weapons used (there are different versions of the missiles).
“There will be audits of what works and what doesn’t work, but I think the other overlay is the proverbial fog of war,” said Byron Callan, a managing partner of Capital Alpha Partners.
Discussing the importance of feedback, particularly in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Callan said, “I absolutely expect the same to be the case with India’s European suppliers, and Pakistan and China are probably sharing the same feedback. If the PL-15 is working as advertised or better than expected, the Chinese would like to hear that.”
If Wednesday is any indication, Chinese aircraft are going to be a problem.
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