South Asian Subcontinent becomes the stage for a direct confrontation between Chinese and South Korean weapons; South Korean media lavishly praise K-series military equipment.

India: Deployment of K9 self-propelled howitzers, French Rafale fighters... Pakistan counters with Chinese-made weapons.

On the 7th, in retaliation for the terrorist attack that occurred in India-controlled Kashmir in April, India launched missiles at Pakistan, causing growing concerns over the escalation of armed conflict between the two countries. The weapons systems deployed by these two nuclear-armed states have also attracted significant attention. India has deployed Hanwha Aerospace's K9 self-propelled howitzers, French Rafale fighters, and other weapons from the Western bloc, while Pakistan primarily uses Chinese-made weapons.

According to Indian and Pakistani government sources, early the previous morning, the Indian government initiated "Operation Sindoor," launching missile attacks on nine terrorist base facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The Pakistani government stated that the Indian military's attack resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, including children, and injured 46 others. The Pakistani military also claimed that as a response to the Indian attack, they shot down five Indian fighter jets and one drone. India stated that Pakistan's attack caused 10 deaths and 48 injuries.

According to the Indian government, some of the targeted terrorist facilities in Pakistan were linked to the Islamic militant attack that occurred in Pahalgam, India-controlled Kashmir on April 22nd. That shooting incident left 26 Hindu tourists dead. The Indian government accused the Pakistani government of being behind the terrorist attack and took various retaliatory measures, such as cutting off the flow of water from Indian rivers to Pakistan. It is reported that continuous clashes are occurring along the Line of Control (LoC), which separates the Indian and Pakistani-controlled areas of Kashmir.

It was reported that among the five fighter jets claimed by Pakistan to have been shot down, three were French Rafale fighters, while the other two were older Russian-made Su-30 and MiG-29 fighters. India is promoting modernization of its military forces and is continuously increasing imports of Western weapons to reduce dependence on Russian-made weapons and equipment. The Rafale fighter jet is part of this effort. Before this armed conflict, the Indian Air Force had 36 Rafale fighters in operation. Recently, the Indian government also signed a contract with the manufacturer, Dassault, to purchase an additional 26 naval fighter jets.

Pakistan mainly uses Chinese fighter jets. In this engagement, the J-10C fighter jets imported from China in 2021 and deployed to the air force in 2022 also made it onto the testing ground. The J-10C is a self-developed fourth-plus-generation fighter jet by China, and Pakistan is the first and only country to import (25 units) the J-10C. China is benchmarking the J-10C's performance against fighter jets like the French Rafale and American F-16 Block 70, seeking export cooperation at approximately $40 to $50 million per unit.

Pakistan also operates the JF-17 fighter jets jointly developed with China. In 2023, when Malaysia purchased 18 FA-50 fighter jets from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the JF-17 was eliminated during the bidding process.

It is reported that the Pakistani Army has concentrated deployments of Chinese-made SH-15 truck-mounted artillery at border regions to counter India's attacks. However, Indian media commented that the performance of the Chinese SH-15 falls short compared to India's version of the K9 self-propelled howitzer, "Vajra." In 2017, India signed a contract with Hanwha Aerospace to introduce 100 K9 cannons. At that time, Hanwha Aerospace produced 10 finished products in South Korea for export to India, while the remaining 90 were locally assembled by Indian partner Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and supplied to the Indian Army, completing delivery by 2020.

In the India-Pakistan border disputes in Kashmir in 2019, the high accuracy and rapid reloading capabilities of the K9 Vajra were already verified. The K9 Vajra can fire 6-8 rounds per minute, whereas the Chinese SH-15 can fire 4-6 rounds per minute.

In early April, Hanwha Aerospace signed an additional export contract for K9 self-propelled howitzers with L&T, amounting to 371.4 billion Korean won [approximately 1.92 billion RMB]. The supply method involves Hanwha Aerospace exporting K9 components to L&T, which assembles the finished product locally before supplying it to the Indian Army. The contract duration extends until September 2030, with Hanwha Aerospace receiving 15% of the total contract value as an advance payment. Prior to this, Indian media reported that L&T signed a contract with the Indian Ministry of Defense to supply 100 K9 Vajras. Therefore, it is expected that Hanwha Aerospace will likely continue to export K9 components.

Following the second export of the K9 self-propelled howitzer, the possibility of Hanwha Aerospace exporting air defense systems to India has also significantly increased. According to relevant personnel from Hanwha Aerospace: "We are negotiating with the Indian side regarding the export of anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missile weapon systems used for UAV defense."

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Rekindling of the India-Pakistan Conflict

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