In the escalating conflict between Pakistan and India, Pakistan clearly shot down several enemy fighter jets in an attack by India. Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday that a Chinese-made Pakistani J-10 fighter jet downed at least two Indian military aircraft on Wednesday. As debris showed, at least one of them was a Rafale fighter. This marks an important milestone for China's advanced fighter jets!

Pakistan's Chinese J-10 fighter takes off

U.S. Officials Confirm

With the world's largest intelligence network, the U.S. is undoubtedly an expert in collecting military information. An anonymous U.S. official told Reuters that there is good reason to believe that Pakistan used its Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets to launch air-to-air missiles and attack Indian fighters, downing at least two.

Another official said that at least one of the downed Indian aircraft was a French-made Rafale fighter.

Both officials stated that Lockheed Martin’s F-16 fighters purchased by Pakistan were not involved in this incident.

Reuters report

When asked about the Reuters report, an Indian Air Force spokesman said he would not comment. The Indian government has not acknowledged losing any aircraft but claimed to have successfully struck what it called "terrorist" infrastructure within Pakistan.

From the U.S. to Russia and China, major powers around the world are calling for calm in one of the most dangerous and densely populated nuclear flashpoints in the world.

Remains of Indian fighters

French Intelligence Official Confirms

In France, Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Rafale fighter, and MBDA, the maker of the Meteor air-to-air missiles, could not be immediately reached for comment due to public holidays. However, a French intelligence official previously admitted to CNN about the loss of the Rafale fighter.

Rafale fighter

According to German magazine Flugrevue, India has so far received 36 Rafale fighters from France, which are the most modern fighters in India's arsenal and form the technical vanguard of the Indian Air Force. Just days ago, the Indian Navy ordered 26 more Rafale fighters, most of which are carrier-based Rafale-M models for naval aviation operations.

The downing of the Rafale fighter is painful for both India and France.

India-Pakistan conflict map

Pakistani Defense Minister Confirms

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Thursday that the J-10 fighter jets were used to shoot down three newly acquired French-made Rafale fighters of India.

Pakistan claims that a total of five Indian fighters were shot down in aerial combat.

Pakistan earlier on Thursday also said it had shot down 25 drones from India overnight. India, on the other hand, said its air defense systems had thwarted attacks by Pakistani drones and missiles on military targets.

Indian soldiers

Western Attention

Reuters commented that this marks the first time the West has confirmed that China-made fighters participated in the downing action.

But obviously, from the Western perspective, how this fighter was lost is more dangerous. Because Pakistan used Chinese fighters to down Indian fighters. Especially as Washington closely monitors the competition between China's advanced fighters and Western opponents to understand how China might perform in a showdown in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Rafale fighter and the J-10 fighter used by Pakistan are both considered fourth-generation semi-fighters and are at the forefront of the fighter domain.

Pakistan under Indian attack

Douglas Barrie, a senior military aerospace researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: "The air warfare communities of China, the U.S., and some European countries will be very interested, trying to learn as much as possible about the tactics, techniques, procedures, equipment used, what works, and what doesn't."

Posts on platforms like X also focused on the standoff between China's PL-15 air-to-air missiles and the Meteor missiles produced by MBDA. Debris from an active radar-guided PL-15E long-range missile, an export version of the PL-15 used by the Chinese Air Force and Navy, was found on the ground near the Patiala Air Base in northeastern Punjab, India. This missile reportedly has a range of about 200 kilometers. The slightly smaller PL-15E can still fly up to 145 kilometers and approach targets at speeds exceeding Mach 5.

Chinese fighters under close Western attention

However, analysts and sources say key details remain unclear. "We cannot judge anything right now. We know very little," said a Western defense industry source.

Regardless, Chinese aircraft have already won a "public opinion war" in the India-Pakistan conflict, opening up broader paths for exports worldwide. It will also become a重点 research subject for the West in the future.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7502198034500207130/

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