Pakistan's use of J-10C jets and missiles exposes potency of Chinese weaponry

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/14/pakistans-use-of-j-10c-jets-and-missiles-exposes-potency-of-chinese-arms

5•n1b0m•6h ago

Comments

chvid•5h ago

Sadly I think weapons are going to be the next big Chinese export boom. Russia has its capacity for exports limited by the Ukraine war. And as this example (plus drones) demonstrates Chinese tech is clearly good enough.

alephnerd•5h ago

Chinese (and Turkish) drones didn't do that hot against Indian AD (a mix of domestic R&D, Israeli, and Russian systems).

Tbf, a lot of the Israeli systems used in Israel are manufactured and R&Ded in India and used in both IL and IN.

riffraff•5h ago

I don't think it's surprising that a plane got downed, and I wouldn't read much into it, apart from the PR.

Also, I think the rafale is a 40 year old design and has been in production since '91, the j-10 is from 10 year later.

I'm not sure this really tells us much about the current state of things.

r721•4h ago

>I don't think it's surprising that a plane got downed

Yeah, CNN reported that according to senior Pakistani security source "125 fighter jets battled for over an hour":

>The “dog fight” between Pakistani and Indian fighter jets, which Pakistani officials say downed five Indian planes, was one of the “largest and longest in recent aviation history,” a senior Pakistani security source told CNN.

>A total of 125 fighter jets battled for over an hour, with neither side leaving its own airspace, according to the source who detailed that the missile exchanges were happening at distances sometimes greater than 160 kilometers (100 miles).

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/india-pakistan-attac...

alephnerd•5h ago

Might show the value of a J10C and the Chinese EW suite, but also showed the failure of Chinese AD and the success of Indian-Israeli-Russian AD cooperation and the Indian Ballistics Missile Program.

There are absolutely some stressed conversations happening in France about SPECTRA, because the rest of the IAF uses a hybrid Indian-Israeli datalink but not in the Rafale yet.

Also they found an unexploded PL-15 near my ancestral village. There were a decent number of those found all across the JK, HP, PB region.

sieve•5h ago

I read it to see if the evidence shown at the two press conferences by the Indian DGs of Operations and Modi landing on the Adampur Airbase (which was supposed to be heavily damaged) and giving a speech with the S-400 system (which was supposed to be destroyed) behind him was covered in the article.

It isn't.

The only thing covered is claims by a state known for its pathological lying and its all-weather ally. So, more of a press release than journalism.

Hardly a surprise.

suraci•3h ago

> “We have defeated Pakistan every time on the battlefield,” Modi said, clenching his fist. “India has proved its superiority in the new age of warfare.”

https://www.ft.com/content/3a2b7686-51fb-4617-a571-12501221e...

> “Not just terror camps, but Pakistan’s audacity has been destroyed. The world witnessed the power behind this chant.”

> “They targeted us again and again, but failed each time. Their designs were foiled.”

> “All of Pakistan’s drones, UAVs, aircraft, and missiles failed before our capable air defence,”

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pm-modis-address-a...

sieve•3h ago

This is fine. I was referring to actual evidence. The Pakistani generals were blatantly lying in their PCs. All the fact checkers in the world suddenly disappeared. And the evidence presented on the Indian side which can be cross-checked using satellite imagery is ignored.

And they have the audacity to "both sides" the event.

The question that needs to be answered is: if Chinese weapons are so great, how was India able to hit deep within Pakistani territory AT WILL? Or, is it the claim that this never happened?

suraci•2h ago

> The question that needs to be answered is: if Chinese weapons are so great, how was Indian able to hit deep within Pakistani territories AT WILL? Or, is it the claim that this never happened.

the anwser is no, Chinese weapons are actually suck, there's no evidence can prove Rafales have been shot down, and there’s no 6–0

(non-indian)media are lying

sieve•2h ago

> there's no evidence can prove Rafales have been shot down

Even if a couple of planes are lost, so what? You lose lives and equipment when fighting a war.

The Americans lost three F/A-18 Super Hornets in their expedition against the Houtis (who do not even have an air force). They are struggling to hit Houthi air defenses with their top-of-the line aircraft and almost escaped being hit multiple times.[1] I don't see the Americans whining about it.

India has the money to replace any losses and buy more from any supplier in the world (we also have a homegrown defense industry). The Pakistanis are stuck with the export version duds that the Chinese supply them.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/trump-houthis...