>For many military aviation watchers, the aerial engagement was the chance to to turn it into a referendum on the Rafale, but it’s actually something else, a well-flown, well-supported 4.5-gen fighter can still be surprised if the opposing side brings a longer reach, better timing, and a cleaner network on a given night.
Right after the initial engagements between India and Pakistan there were a lot of articles making dramatic and or just heavily hinting at various lessons you could glean from the handful of outcomes.
Many of them seemed almost like defense contractor spin about "our weapons are better" rather than anything that anyone could possibly have known so early on.
bigyabai•6mo ago
None of this is really new for combat aviation circles, and frankly a lot of the assertions were proven right. When a Chinese missile bus shoots down a French multirole fighter with a 5x higher MSRP, there has to be some sort of systems advantage helping Pakistan.
So, how can we ascertain which systems it could be? Simple, you look at the declassified inventory. Pakistan hasn't hidden their import of Saab AWACS aircraft, we know they have the ability to extend radar with datalink far beyond what's expected out of a J-10C. For Indian officers, the only remaining question in this kill chain is whether a capable enough missile exists to secure the kill, and that information is public knowledge too. Pakistan took out a loan to purchase this capability-set: https://theasialive.com/pl-15e-missile-transfer-to-pakistan-...
There was a brief period of uncertainty after the shootdown, and definitely a lot of misinformation on social media. A lot of the conclusions were the sorts of things you could surmise looking at a stat sheet, though.
ungreased0675•6mo ago
“They probably can’t hit me from there” has a long military history. India will figure it out and adjust, and the cycle will continue.
algorhymes•6mo ago
for anyone as curious as me, yes the pilots managed to eject in time.
buyucu•6mo ago
From what I understand, J-10 is a much cheaper plane than the Rafale. This alone makes this a huge emberassement for the manufacturer Dassault.
duxup•6mo ago
Right after the initial engagements between India and Pakistan there were a lot of articles making dramatic and or just heavily hinting at various lessons you could glean from the handful of outcomes.
Many of them seemed almost like defense contractor spin about "our weapons are better" rather than anything that anyone could possibly have known so early on.
bigyabai•6mo ago
So, how can we ascertain which systems it could be? Simple, you look at the declassified inventory. Pakistan hasn't hidden their import of Saab AWACS aircraft, we know they have the ability to extend radar with datalink far beyond what's expected out of a J-10C. For Indian officers, the only remaining question in this kill chain is whether a capable enough missile exists to secure the kill, and that information is public knowledge too. Pakistan took out a loan to purchase this capability-set: https://theasialive.com/pl-15e-missile-transfer-to-pakistan-...
There was a brief period of uncertainty after the shootdown, and definitely a lot of misinformation on social media. A lot of the conclusions were the sorts of things you could surmise looking at a stat sheet, though.