Source: Shah, Saeed, Idrees Ali. “Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane shot down at least two Indian military aircraft -U.S. officials.” Reuters, May 8, 2025. Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Don Durfee and Matthew Lewis.
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Washington – In a significant development for global defense analysts, two U.S. officials have told Reuters that a top Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane, the J-10, shot down at least two Indian military aircraft on Wednesday, May 8, 2025. This incident marks a major milestone for Beijing’s advanced fighter jet, with its performance against a Western rival being closely watched for insights into potential future conflicts involving China.
While an Indian Air Force spokesperson declined to comment on the Reuters report, the U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed “high confidence” that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made J-10 aircraft to launch air-to-air missiles against Indian fighter jets, bringing down at least two. One official further specified that at least one of the downed Indian jets was a French-made Rafale fighter aircraft. Importantly, both officials confirmed that Pakistan’s U.S.-made F-16 aircraft were not involved in the shootdown.
New Delhi has not acknowledged the loss of any of its planes, instead stating that it carried out successful strikes against what it described as “terrorist” infrastructure inside Pakistan. In France, Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation and the MBDA consortium, which produces the Meteor air-to-air missile, were unavailable for comment due to a public holiday.
Pakistan’s Claims and the Global Watch:
Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, subsequently informed Reuters on Thursday, May 9, 2025, that the J-10 was responsible for shooting down three French-made Rafale planes, which India had newly acquired. Altogether, Pakistan claims it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat during the confrontation.
This aerial engagement has captured the attention of world powers, from the U.S. to Russia and China, all of whom have called for calm in the volatile, nuclear-armed South Asian region. The live use of advanced weapons systems like the J-10 and Rafale, both considered generation 4.5 fighter jets at the leading edge of combat aircraft, offers crucial insights into modern air warfare.
Defense analysts are scrutinizing the details to understand tactics, techniques, procedures, and the effectiveness of various military hardware. Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, noted that “Air warfare communities in China, the U.S. and a number of European countries will be extremely interested to try and get as much ground truth as they can on tactics, techniques, procedures, what kit was used, what worked and what didn’t.”
Social media has highlighted the face-off between China’s PL-15 air-to-air missile and Europe’s Meteor. However, analysts caution that crucial details remain unclear, such as whether Meteors were carried by the Indian jets or how they might have been deployed, making it premature to draw firm conclusions.
The reported aerial skirmishes occurred amidst renewed cross-border tensions. Late on Thursday, blasts were heard across Jammu in Indian Kashmir, which Indian military sources suspected was a Pakistani drone attack. Pakistan, earlier that day, claimed it shot down 25 drones from India overnight, while India stated its air defenses had thwarted Pakistani drone and missile attacks on military targets.
This incident, as reported by Reuters, marks a significant moment for China’s growing military capabilities and provides a rare real-world test case for advanced fighter jet and missile systems from both Eastern and Western origins.
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