Reuters reported on 2/8 that two Indian officials and three Pakistani officials said the downing of an Indian Rafale fighter jet in a dogfight in early May wasn't due to the aircraft's technical capabilities. Instead, the main cause is believed to be "Indian intelligence miscalculating the range of the PL-15 air-to-air missile used by Pakistani J-10 fighters".

According to the Indian officials, the Rafale pilot believed they were operating outside the PL-15's range of 150 km, as this is the range typically associated with the export variant, the PL-15E. The domestic Chinese version of the PL-15 has a range of 200-300 km.

"We ambushed them," a Pakistani air force official declared, adding that Islamabad had launched an electronic warfare operation to confuse the enemy pilot.

Debris, suspected to be the vertical stabilizer of an Indian Rafale fighter jet, in a photo released on 7/5. Photo: Aviation Week

Debris, suspected to be the vertical stabilizer of an Indian Rafale fighter jet, in a photo released on 7/5. Photo: Aviation Week

Pakistani officials revealed that the PL-15 missile that downed the Rafale was launched from a distance of 200 km, while the Indian officials suggested the launch location was even further away. If confirmed, this would be one of the longest-range air-to-air kills ever recorded.

Four other Pakistani officials said that Pakistan has developed a network of airborne, ground-based, and space-based sensors. This network includes the Pakistan-developed Data Link 17 system, which allows Chinese military equipment to be linked with products from other countries, such as Swedish-made early warning aircraft.

This network allows Pakistani J-10 fighters to turn off their radar to fly near the border with India undetected while using target data provided by early warning aircraft to maintain situational awareness.

Indian officials stated that India is trying to build a similar network to Pakistan's, but the process is more complicated because India purchases aircraft from many different manufacturers.

Neither the Indian Ministry of Defense nor the Pakistani military has commented on the information.

The body of a PL-15E missile that landed near Kamahi Devi village, Punjab state, India, in May. Photo: War Zone

The body of a PL-15E missile that landed near Kamahi Devi village, Punjab state, India, in May. Photo: War Zone

At dawn on 7/5, India launched Operation Sindoor, attacking 9 targets in Pakistan and the Islamabad-controlled area of the disputed Kashmir region. India said this was in response to a shooting that killed 26 people near the town of Pahalgam on 22/4. Before launching the operation, India accused Pakistan of supporting the armed group that carried out the attack.

A senior Pakistani security official said that Islamabad and New Delhi deployed a total of 125 fighter jets of various types, with fighters from both sides repeatedly firing missiles at each other, sometimes from distances of over 160 km. "This was one of the largest and longest-lasting air battles in modern aviation history," the official said.

Pakistan's Ministry of Defense claimed that its forces shot down six Indian military aircraft, including three Rafale multirole fighters, one MiG-29 light fighter, one Su-30MKI heavy fighter, and one Heron medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle.

A Pakistani military spokesperson later confirmed that they had used PL-15E long-range air-to-air missiles on J-10CE fighters to disable Indian fighters. Both the PL-15E missile and the J-10CE fighter are manufactured by China and sold to Pakistan.

Nguyen Tien (According to Aviationist, Reuters, AFP)