India has confirmed Pakistan used Chinese-made missiles during the recent cross-border military strikes.
Air Marshal AK Bharti, India’s director general air operations, said Indian forces had intercepted and neutralised a range of hi-tech foreign weapons used by Pakistan, including the Chinese-origin PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile and Turkish Byker YIHA III Kamikaze drones.
“You can see the pieces of it on the screen,” AM Bharti said during a media briefing, pointing to the debris of a PL-15 missile recovered from a field in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, bordering Pakistan in northern India.
Pakistan claims it shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three French-made Rafales.
A French intelligence source told CNN that a Rafale jet had indeed been downed during exchanges of fire.
Delhi sidestepped a question on whether it had lost jets, saying instead that all its pilots were safe.
The PL-15, developed by China’s Aviation Industry Corporation, is designed to strike high-value airborne targets at ranges exceeding 200km.
In public, Beijing has so far struck a diplomatic tone on the crisis between two South Asian neighbours that were brought back from an all-out-war through back-channel talks.
But in private, a Chinese delegation travelled to the Pakistani foreign ministry in the middle of the night to celebrate the success of the missile strikes.
India’s decision to name China in the recent crisis signals growing alarm in New Delhi over deepening military cooperation between the arch rivals.
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The Pakistani and Chinese militaries are hosting joint exercises and sharing common weapon platforms.
The Chinese are also sharing their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities with Pakistan.
Officers are embedded in the military commands of each other’s nations, such as Pakistani officers placed in China’s Central Military Commission and Western Theatre Command at Chengdu, which oversees the operational frontier with India.
The PL-15 missile, which has never before been used in combat, is powered by a dual-pulse motor that propels it to hypersonic speeds exceeding Mach 5.
“Because they are very, very fast, they basically have what you call a ‘no-escape zone’,” said Fabian Hoffmann, a missile technology researcher and fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis.
The confirmation comes just days after Pakistan’s army published a YouTube video showcasing its military arsenal, including a Chinese-made JF-17 Block 3 fighter jet, less advanced than the J-10C, equipped with PL-15 missiles. The combination offers “potent punch”, a caption reads.
Analysts believe one of these missiles may have been used to shoot down a Rafale fighter deep inside Indian territory in a long-range “stand-off” engagement in which neither side crossed the border.
The wreckage of a Rafale was reportedly found near Bathinda in Punjab in northern India.
The apparent involvement of Chinese aircraft in shooting down a Rafale has ricocheted through defence circles – and sent stock in its maker, Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, surging by as much as 20 per cent.
Until now, Chinese weaponry had not been field-tested against Western-made systems like the Rafale.
The Indian Air Force operates a fleet of 36 Rafale F3Rs, the most advanced model of the aircraft.
Hu Jixin, the former editor of the Chinese state-owned Global Times, said the battle showed “China’s level of military manufacturing has completely surpassed that of Russia and France”, adding that Taiwan should feel “even more scared”.
