Their greatest advance in terms of fighter jets is the J-20, which closely resembles the F-22 Raptor. I'll get more into their comparative capabilities in part 3
It would be interesting to learn if the Chinese provided any Top Tier weapons or systems in order to evaluate their own use in an active warfare environment.
Their best fighter jet is the J20, which they’ve not sold abroad yet. Pakistan is currently the only market for the J10, but other countries are now expressing interest.
Is this really a global reframing? Over the last twenty or more years US air combat planners have focused and spoken heavily on the importance of multi domain warfare, networked combat, collaborative engagement capabilities, and sensor network fusion. India’s failure to adopt these systems with the full knowledge that both Pakistan and China were very capably fielding these systems seems less a watershed moment for air planning globally and more a wake up call for Indian air planners.
You’re right - it’s been discussed for a long time. However, this incident has pushed the discussion to the forefront in many countries who may not have taken it as seriously as they once did. I’ll be looking at global military and industry reactions in part 3.
The analysis lacks rigour and is not an objective one. This narrative doesn’t explain IAFs ability to penetrate the supposedly superior Chinese tech in engagements on subsequent days. If reliable, with time air superiority should have increased in favour of PAF with passing time which on the contrary seemed non existent, the way airbases were struck across the length and breath of Pak.
Firstly, this is part 1 of a 3 part series and we have only seen about 4 hours of May 7th so far.
Secondly, anytime a Pakistan vs. India conflict is mentioned on the internet, the comments become absolutely insane. A multi-node digital air defense system is positively trivial when compared to the deep complexity of the psychological neuroses each nation has for the other. The only thing they will ever agree on is that it's always the others' fault.
I reject your assessment. The fact that five aircraft from a superior airforce were downed at all says something and points to strategic gaps. Yes, the IAF also had success in striking targets in Pakistan, but that was to be expected, given its size and general superiority (it's also not the point of this series). As I imply here and will explain in coming articles, I do not believe the Chinese systems are "superior", but rather demonstrated an advantage with regard to integration - something India and other countries are now talking about.
I don’t know if that’s entirely true. We know that in an air engagement that the Pakistani Air Force demonstrated a superior integration of long range C2 and EW. After that I believe India was able to land successful strikes within Pakistan using ballistic and cruise missiles, really side stepping another air battle altogether. Wouldn’t this indicate that India learned from their mistakes of underestimating Pakistani capabilities and instead leaned on other strengths?
Perhaps so, but it’s also not the point. The point is that the aircraft were downed at all, and that they were downed by integrated non-western systems. That’s what I’ll be looking at in parts 2 and 3.
The only ones who seem to be denying it are the ones with every incentive to do so. I’ve pointed to independent analysis and qualified my statements in the article with “if”. You be the judge.
Interesting, and I'm looking forward to the remaining parts. Thanks Adam!
Bit scary that China has such a fighter. Wonder what other military systems they may have built over the years?
Their greatest advance in terms of fighter jets is the J-20, which closely resembles the F-22 Raptor. I'll get more into their comparative capabilities in part 3
This is a good start to clarify the situation.
I wonder, how much is training the factor here?
It’s an important one: I’ll be looking into that as well in part 3
It would be interesting to learn if the Chinese provided any Top Tier weapons or systems in order to evaluate their own use in an active warfare environment.
Their best fighter jet is the J20, which they’ve not sold abroad yet. Pakistan is currently the only market for the J10, but other countries are now expressing interest.
Is this really a global reframing? Over the last twenty or more years US air combat planners have focused and spoken heavily on the importance of multi domain warfare, networked combat, collaborative engagement capabilities, and sensor network fusion. India’s failure to adopt these systems with the full knowledge that both Pakistan and China were very capably fielding these systems seems less a watershed moment for air planning globally and more a wake up call for Indian air planners.
You’re right - it’s been discussed for a long time. However, this incident has pushed the discussion to the forefront in many countries who may not have taken it as seriously as they once did. I’ll be looking at global military and industry reactions in part 3.
The analysis lacks rigour and is not an objective one. This narrative doesn’t explain IAFs ability to penetrate the supposedly superior Chinese tech in engagements on subsequent days. If reliable, with time air superiority should have increased in favour of PAF with passing time which on the contrary seemed non existent, the way airbases were struck across the length and breath of Pak.
Two points here,
Firstly, this is part 1 of a 3 part series and we have only seen about 4 hours of May 7th so far.
Secondly, anytime a Pakistan vs. India conflict is mentioned on the internet, the comments become absolutely insane. A multi-node digital air defense system is positively trivial when compared to the deep complexity of the psychological neuroses each nation has for the other. The only thing they will ever agree on is that it's always the others' fault.
I reject your assessment. The fact that five aircraft from a superior airforce were downed at all says something and points to strategic gaps. Yes, the IAF also had success in striking targets in Pakistan, but that was to be expected, given its size and general superiority (it's also not the point of this series). As I imply here and will explain in coming articles, I do not believe the Chinese systems are "superior", but rather demonstrated an advantage with regard to integration - something India and other countries are now talking about.
Looking forward to the other two parts.
I don’t know if that’s entirely true. We know that in an air engagement that the Pakistani Air Force demonstrated a superior integration of long range C2 and EW. After that I believe India was able to land successful strikes within Pakistan using ballistic and cruise missiles, really side stepping another air battle altogether. Wouldn’t this indicate that India learned from their mistakes of underestimating Pakistani capabilities and instead leaned on other strengths?
Perhaps so, but it’s also not the point. The point is that the aircraft were downed at all, and that they were downed by integrated non-western systems. That’s what I’ll be looking at in parts 2 and 3.
The evidence on downing of 5 IAF ac is itself speculative.
The only ones who seem to be denying it are the ones with every incentive to do so. I’ve pointed to independent analysis and qualified my statements in the article with “if”. You be the judge.