Chinese Celebrate J-10C Fighters’ “Success” Over Rafale Jets During India-Pak Clash; Hail PL-15 Missile
By Sakshi Tiwari
-May 8, 2025
Pakistan has claimed to have downed multiple Indian fighter jets using its Chinese-origin J-10C fighter jet armed with long-range air-to-air missiles. The claims, despite not being supported by evidence, have been endorsed by Chinese state-owned media and military bloggers.
Pakistan claimed it had downed five Indian fighter jets over Kashmir and other regions, including the 4.5th-generation Rafale operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) after India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on terror training camps in Pakistan as retribution for the Pahalgam terror attack.
Pakistan later claimed to have used its newly acquired Chinese-origin J-10C fighter for what it described as a brief encounter.
The Pakistani foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, told the National Assembly that the J-10C shot down five Indian fighter jets, three of which were Rafales. Pakistan has been unable to furnish evidence to back these claims, and the Indian side has not confirmed any losses.
An unidentified high-ranking French intelligence official later told CNN that Pakistan downed an Indian Rafale fighter. This apparent confirmation has been linked to reports that an aircraft had crashed in Bhatinda, Punjab. While this has stoked several theories, no concrete evidence has been presented so far.
Notably, the Chinese state-owned Global Times (GT) has diligently provided extensive coverage of these claims. After being schooled by the Indian embassy against publishing unverified claims on May 7, GT published Dar’s remarks in great detail, emphasising that “Pakistan has confirmed participation of the J-10C” in response to Indian attacks.
“Pakistan, which has imported a bulk of the defense equipment, including J-10C fighter jets, claimed to have shot down five Indian planes, including a French Rafale jet,” it stated.
The same editorial line was adopted by the Chinese news company and blogging site Sohu, where Chinese military bloggers and netizens discussed the alleged downing of the Indian Rafale. One such article stated that Pakistan had shot down six Rafales by using electronic warfare to disable them first, followed by a strike. Meanwhile, another article described it as the “most serious air loss faced by India in decades.”
Referring to the unconfirmed downing of an IAF Rafale, Hu Shisheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Academic Committee of the China Institute of Modern International Relations, said that this attack will likely have a significant impact on India’s military reform, especially in terms of fighter procurement.
He stated that India may reconsider purchasing more advanced American fighters, such as the American F-35, or increase R&D investment in sixth-generation fighters.
Pakistan Air Force J-10CP (Via X)
Some of these reports and blogs heaped praises on the J-10C, arguing that Pakistan downed Indian Rafales as the Chinese-origin J-10C has a longer detection range than the Rafale, along with cutting-edge Electronic Warfare capabilities.
The above claim may be misplaced because, according to publicly available information, the Rafale is generally considered to have a longer detection range than the Chengdu J-10C. This is primarily due to its advanced RBE2 AESA radar, which reportedly has a detection range exceeding 200-240 kilometres. In contrast, the J-10CP has a range of about 120 to 200 kilometres.
The Chinese bloggers also pointed to the range of the PL-15E missile, which is believed to have been used by the PAF J-10CP against IAF fighters. It said, “The PL-15E has a range of 150 kilometers. With the active phased array radar of the J-10CE, it can lock and shoot down advanced fighters such as Indian Rafales and Su-30MKI in BVR combat.
Earlier, the Chinese media had endorsed claims made by Pakistani Defense Minister Khwaja Asif that the J-10C fighters successfully interfered with the Rafale’s radar and communication system, causing the aircraft to lose its situational awareness and forcing it to land in Srinagar on April 29. The incident remains unverified.
These comments and claims are hardly surprising given that China considers Pakistan its closest ally. Indian experts have repeatedly noted that Pakistan acquired the J-10C only to counter the Indian Rafale. In 2022, a popular Chinese military analyst, Shi Hong, told Global Times: “The J-10C is also significantly more powerful than the old US-made F-16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force and can rival the Rafale fighter jet that recently entered service with the Indian Air Force.”
Nonetheless, several leading US-based publications, such as Reuters, the New York Times, and CNN, published these claims. As a result, the stocks of Avic Chengdu Aircraft Co. Ltd., which manufactures the J-10C and the JF-17 in use by Pakistan, rallied over 36% in two sessions. Meanwhile, Dassault Aviation’s stock dipped 1.64–5%.
China has since been milking the situation to its benefit. After Pakistan confirmed the J-10C’s deployment, a Chinese journalist and PLA commentator, Shen Shiwei, posted a video of the aircraft on the social media site X. The video was accompanied by the caption: “Three years in 2022, #Pakistan officially inducted the Chinese-developed fighter jets J-10CE, the export version of the J-10C, into its Air Force as a major addition to the country’s defense system.”
Some of these reports and blogs heaped praises on the J-10C, arguing that Pakistan downed Indian Rafales as the Chinese-origin J-10C has a longer detection range than the Rafale, along with cutting-edge Electronic Warfare capabilities.
The above claim may be misplaced because, according to publicly available information, the Rafale is generally considered to have a longer detection range than the Chengdu J-10C. This is primarily due to its advanced RBE2 AESA radar, which reportedly has a detection range exceeding 200-240 kilometres. In contrast, the J-10CP has a range of about 120 to 200 kilometres.
The Chinese bloggers also pointed to the range of the PL-15E missile, which is believed to have been used by the PAF J-10CP against IAF fighters. It said, “The PL-15E has a range of 150 kilometers. With the active phased array radar of the J-10CE, it can lock and shoot down advanced fighters such as Indian Rafales and Su-30MKI in BVR combat.
Earlier, the Chinese media had endorsed claims made by Pakistani Defense Minister Khwaja Asif that the J-10C fighters successfully interfered with the Rafale’s radar and communication system, causing the aircraft to lose its situational awareness and forcing it to land in Srinagar on April 29. The incident remains unverified.
These comments and claims are hardly surprising given that China considers Pakistan its closest ally. Indian experts have repeatedly noted that Pakistan acquired the J-10C only to counter the Indian Rafale. In 2022, a popular Chinese military analyst, Shi Hong, told Global Times: “The J-10C is also significantly more powerful than the old US-made F-16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force and can rival the Rafale fighter jet that recently entered service with the Indian Air Force.”
Nonetheless, several leading US-based publications, such as Reuters, the New York Times, and CNN, published these claims. As a result, the stocks of Avic Chengdu Aircraft Co. Ltd., which manufactures the J-10C and the JF-17 in use by Pakistan, rallied over 36% in two sessions. Meanwhile, Dassault Aviation’s stock dipped 1.64–5%.
China has since been milking the situation to its benefit. After Pakistan confirmed the J-10C’s deployment, a Chinese journalist and PLA commentator, Shen Shiwei, posted a video of the aircraft on the social media site X. The video was accompanied by the caption: “Three years in 2022, #Pakistan officially inducted the Chinese-developed fighter jets J-10CE, the export version of the J-10C, into its Air Force as a major addition to the country’s defense system.”
The rhetoric about J-10Cs dominating the Rafale may also play out well for China, which is looking to export its J-10C to friendly countries. Uzbekistan is also deciding between the J-10C and Rafale as its next fighter jet. Additionally, several past reports have indicated that Egypt is interested in buying the aircraft.
Thus, the claims are likely to benefit China.
Rafale Down Or Not?
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that the J-10C fighter jets were deployed based on intelligence received beforehand. “There were instructions to only target Indian jets that released payloads,” Dar told lawmakers on May 7. “This is why only five jets were taken down. Had the directive been different, nearly 10-12 jets would have been struck.”
Some social media accounts posted pictures of the wreckage of an aircraft bearing serial number 001, claiming that this was India’s first Dassault Rafale EH fighter jet. The pictures were allegedly taken in the Indian city of Bathinda. However, on verification, it was ascertained that the BS-001 image of the claimed Rafale first appeared in September 2024.
More than 24 hours later, Pakistan has yet to serve evidence to support these claims.
However, if confirmed, this would be the first loss of a Rafale in combat. The IAF has 36 Rafale fighter jets in its arsenal, brought in a government-to-government contract in 2016. This would also be the IAF’s first combat loss since Balakot 2019, when the IAF lost a MiG-21 Bison in an air duel with Pakistan.
The Indian government or military has yet to comment on these claims, but Indian military experts have dismissed them as disinformation, particularly because Islamabad has not provided evidence–such as a cockpit recording, radar data, or missile telemetry– to back the claims.
File Image: Rafale
In addition to the alleged downing of Rafale, some Pakistan-affiliated accounts on the social media platform X are also posting videos of a crashed Indian MiG-29. However, the video is from September 2024, when the IAF lost a MiG-29 in the Barmer sector in Rajasthan. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) also refuted these claims.
Amid these claims and counter-claims, another set of images surfaced on social media showing the wreckage of a missile in Hoshiarpur in India, which experts and Western media publications have attributed to the Chinese-origin PL-15E. This further stoked speculation that a Pakistani J-10C likely fired the missile to shoot down an Indian jet in an aerial encounter.
These are mere predictions that could not be confirmed. Moreover, even if the wreckage is that of the PL-15E, there is no evidence to prove the missile was able to down a target.
EurAsian Times had reported earlier that China had urgently delivered the long-range missile to Pakistan amid rising tensions with India. The missile is compatible with the JF-17 and the J-10C fighters.
In addition to the alleged downing of Rafale, some Pakistan-affiliated accounts on the social media platform X are also posting videos of a crashed Indian MiG-29. However, the video is from September 2024, when the IAF lost a MiG-29 in the Barmer sector in Rajasthan. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) also refuted these claims.
Amid these claims and counter-claims, another set of images surfaced on social media showing the wreckage of a missile in Hoshiarpur in India, which experts and Western media publications have attributed to the Chinese-origin PL-15E. This further stoked speculation that a Pakistani J-10C likely fired the missile to shoot down an Indian jet in an aerial encounter.
These are mere predictions that could not be confirmed. Moreover, even if the wreckage is that of the PL-15E, there is no evidence to prove the missile was able to down a target.
EurAsian Times had reported earlier that China had urgently delivered the long-range missile to Pakistan amid rising tensions with India. The missile is compatible with the JF-17 and the J-10C fighters.
Contact the author at sakshi.tiwari9555(at)gmail.com
5000 yo Old Bullyland needs to clarify its claim over Aksai Chin and Shaksgam Valley which it controls and claims as part of rampassed Xinjiang and Tibet. These two areas covers a tiny 38,000 sq km.
ReplyDeleteBut very aneh Old Bullyland never claim back the 1,000,000 sq km that was rampassed by Russian Tsars from the weak Qing Dynasty via the Aigun Treaty (1858) and Convention on Peking (1860), at the beginning of the Century of Humiliation and Unequal Treaties which they always complain about.
In fact this week there is a Party going on in Moscow celebrating Victory Day 80 and BullyXi and Bloodymir Pootin are behaving like 2 kids who are BFF.
Was it Stalin that liberated Old Bullyland from the Tyranny of the Yapanese in 1945 or President Truman with Nuclear Boms on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Stalin declared war on Yapan and entered World War 2's Pacific Theater on August 8, 1945. The invasion of Manchuria, a Yapanese puppet state, followed on August 9, 1945, according to Wikipedia and The National Archives. This action was part of an agreement made at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences in 1943 and 1945, where the Soviets pledged to enter the war against Yapan three months after Germany's surrender.
Note: VE Day was May 8, 1945 so three months on is Aug 8. But Stalin was in no hurry.
THREE MONTHS (for R&R?) while thousands of soldiers and civilians in were dying in the Pacific, including in 5000yo Bullyland.
Hiroshima was nuked Aug 6, Nagasaki Aug 9. Stalin only showed up on Aug 9, after R&R, when the war in the Pacific was done and dusted, all the hard work done by the Americans, British, Australian, Yindian, Kiwi etc etc soldiers.
But with typical arrogance and no shame Stalin demanded the following after doing nothing in the Pacific Theatre:
Stalin sought control of Yapanese territories to establish a buffer zone against potential future conflict and secure access to a Pacific port. Key demands included Southern Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands, a lease on the ports of Dairen and Port Arthur, and the Southern Manchurian Railway. Stalin also sought recognition of the status quo in Outer Mongolia.
A more detailed breakdown:
Southern Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands:
Stalin aimed to regain control of these territories, which Yapan had seized during the Russo-Japanese War.
Dairen and Port Arthur:
Stalin sought a lease for these strategic ports on the Liaotung Peninsula, again aiming to secure access to the Pacific.
Southern Manchurian Railway:
Stalin wanted a lease for this railway, as it was crucial for moving troops and supplies to the region.
Outer Mongolia:
Stalin desired formal recognition of the current political status of Outer Mongolia, which the Soviet Union already had influence over.
Hokkaido (Partially):
While not formally demanded at Yalta, there was a plan to potentially occupy northern Hokkaido after the Japanese surrender, motivated by the desire for a year-round ice-free port.
Of course Young Bullyland, under The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, Five Star General MacArthur said "No Comrade Stalin, you did nothing, so you Get Nothing. You already got Half of Germany but you ain't gonna get Half of Yapan".
Yapan is eternally grateful to Young Bullyland for that.
Aksai Chin??? India just depended on dubious British flip-flopping of the McMahon Line versus the Johnson Line, both being British demarcations at different periods. Who is to say the Poms were correct other than their then-colonial mentality. Wiki says (extracts on Aksai Chin):
DeleteOn 1 July 1954, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote a memo directing that the maps of India be revised to show definite boundaries on all frontiers. Up to this point, the boundary in the Aksai Chin sector, based on the Johnson Line, had been described as "undemarcated."[32]
Despite this region being nearly uninhabitable and having no resources, it remains strategically important for China as it connects Tibet and Xinjiang. During the 1950s, the People's Republic of China built a 1,200 km (750 mi) road connecting Xinjiang and western Tibet, of which 179 km (112 mi) ran south of the Johnson Line through the Aksai Chin region claimed by India.[20][30] Aksai Chin was easily accessible to the Chinese, but was more difficult for the Indians on the other side of the Karakorams to reach.[20] The Indians did not learn of the existence of the road until 1957, which was confirmed when the road was shown in Chinese maps published in 1958.[39] The construction of this highway was one of the triggers for the Sino-Indian War of 1962.[40]
USSR versus USA in WWII:
DeleteUSSR faced and occupied 400+ German divisions on the Eastern Front, keeping German troops away from Normandy Beach-Western Front, making it so relatively easy fro US-UK troops at Normandy that only 1000+ troops were killed during the landing - had some of the 400+ German divisions at the Eastern Front were deployed at the other Front, the wanks and poms would have been severely massacred during the Landing. So who won the war for the Allies?
The people of Western Europe at the end of WWII understood clearly that their Liberators were the Yanks and the Poms.
DeleteIf it had been Soviet forces,they would have just swapped one set of Nazi Oppressors for Soviet Oppressors , as happened in Eastern Europe. No liberation .
The Liberation of Eastern Europe was delayed another 45 years to the fall of the Soviet Union 1990.
And now it is being threatened again by Russia.
Operation Barbarosa failed and Nazi Germany started withdrawing from deep inside Soviet Union on December 4, 1941. Nazi surrender in Stalingrad was in February 1943. D-Day Normandy was June 6, 1944. So the timing was completely different.
DeleteYes the Soviets were key to the defeat of Nazi Germany in Europe and they got half of the continent after WW2 as reward, including East Germany.
But so thick skinned, ask for so much in the Pacific after WW2 when they did nothing there, even took a three month R&R before showing up.
That understanding of the then western Europe was based on well-prepared demoNcratic propagandas generated by the Yank with the helps his arm- twisted allies.
DeleteOtherwise, the Yank wouldn't have achieved his aim of subversion the powers of old Europe to become their dominant master.
Ths Soviet Oppression , as happened in Eastern Europe, was in many parts the creation of the Yank's manipulated economic blockages.
Bearing in mind, that just after the WWII, everyone else, except the Yank, were desperate for material & financial helps. The humongous profits generated from loans & military HW supplied to both warring countries & the well placed location in far away America continent, have the Yank the ability to play his geopolitical game of championship.
Russia had no such economic power to benefit & enticement to his follower nations. Thus SUwas in bad light right from the start of the rising geopolitical curtain in Europe. The ongoing political propagandas helped to enhance the fallacies of a corrupted & authoritarianSU reign that cultivated fears amongst all the old Europe who just revived from a destructive war.
didn't Japs grab Russian territories?
DeleteJust an addendum to that demoNcratic mfer's lies.
Delete'Was it Stalin that liberated Old Bullyland from the Tyranny of the Yapanese in 1945 or President Truman with Nuclear Boms on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?‘
None of them! If ever there was a tinct of helpful support for the Chinese, it was the harsh weather of the Siberia. That weather prevented the Imperial Jap蝗军 to attack the Russia from the eastern front while Nazis Germany was sending waves upon waves of attacks in the Russian western front.
Just imagine that if the Jap蝗军 were to launch that simultaneous eastern attack on Russia back, there wouldn't be a Russia anymore. With Nazis Germany & Imperial Japan sharing the lodes of defeated Russia within calculated short time. Russia at that time had no any other ability to fight the Imperial Japan at her eastern back. & the Axies weren't of much helps in preventing that to happens, except the persistent fighting spirits of the poorly equiped Chinese that tied up the majority military resources of the Imperial Jap蝗军.
If the Nazis Germany & Imperial Japan would have successes in defeating Russia, the many battalions of German arm forces would have swamped the whole Europe while the Imperial Japan military might could be spared to concentrating in the Pacific realm & eventually reaching the America continent. Safe haven for the US no more!
Thus, in proper prospective that many western his-storical farts have no mentioned of the sacrifices of millions of the Russian Red Army & Chinese fighters in delaying the advances of the military mights of the then Nazis Germany & Imperial Japan. By giving opportunities for the yankee led Allie to recoup lost grounds & people to replan their fighting strategies.