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Operation Sindoor
On May 7, 2025 the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched Operation Sindoor, India’s punitive retaliation strike was aiming to hit nine ‘terror camps’: essentially, nine out of 30+ Madrassas used by proxies of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) to indoctrinate, organise, and train jihadists for terror attacks into India. As The Aviation Geek Club contributor and world famous author Tom Cooper previously reported, primary targets were facilities used by the UN-designated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayba (LeT) and another major ISI-run terror group, the Jaysh-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) proved capable of setting up an ‘ambush’ for several of incoming IAF formations. As a result, it definitely shot down 1 Rafale EH fighter-bomber. So far there wasn’t any kind of evidence for this, until when a senior French intelligence official confirmed to CNN that one Indian Air Force Rafale fighter jet was shot down by Pakistan, marking what is the first known combat loss of the French-made aircraft.
As already explained, two US officials told Reuters that was a Pakistan Air Force Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon (NATO reporting name: Firebird) Chinese-made fighter plane to shoot down and at least two Indian military aircraft (one of them being the Rafale BS001). By contrast Pakistanis claim that the Rafale was shot down by one of their JF-17C fighters, as the following photo of the PAF pilot credited with the Rafale-kill would show. Both his ‘wing’ patch (on his right shoulder) and his squadron patch are ‘speaking clear language.’
PAF J-10 Vs IAF Rafale
But let’s assume was a PAF J-10 to shoot down the IAF Rafale: how did a J-10C manage to shoot down a Rafale? Does it mean Chinese fighter jets are underrated?
Adam Daymude, former US Navy EA-18G Growler pilot, explains on Quora;
‘Second question first: Absolutely! Don’t confuse those cheap squirt guns and knock off consumer goods we get from them for their military capabilities. To be honest, they’re not at the US/NATO level yet but they are very capable fighters.
‘Ok…the canards and delta wing aren’t great, but I’m a US homer and we ditched those designs very early on. They don’t fit with our move to stealth is the biggest part of that. There are SO many angles on that plane and I can’t tell if they’ve protected the engine inlet, which is a major RADAR return source.
‘But if you’re not fighting the US, the J-10 looks like a very formidable opponent. The missiles they carry (which were 100% ripped off from American missiles through some really shady espionage) are some of the best in the world. That’s how they shot down Rafale’s. And I’m sure Pakistan employed tactics they learned from us. So there you go: superior missiles, comparable aircraft, and superior tactics they learned from us. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Pakistan has had some success in the air war.
‘I hope my overall evaluation of the J-10 and the missiles it carries wasn’t derogatory though. Clearly, they are very capable 4th gen fighters. And in every fight not including the US, that is more than adequate.
Chinese fighters to get wiped out by the US if get caught up in a shooting war
‘Chinese fighters will get wiped out by the US, though, if we get caught up in a shooting war. I pray that doesn’t happen, but if it does, kid gloves come off and we do what we can do. It really won’t take long.
‘I’ve fought stealth, non-stealth but pretty stealthy, and not even close to stealth. Chinese fighters fall into that last category. They really need to go back and hit the books. It was a Russian that figured out stealth, we stole the idea and made it work for an airplane.’
Daymude concludes;
‘Their attempts so far have been, excuse me, laughable. A flight of F-22s would clear the air than F-35s are going to come in and destroy all of the SAMs. I’ve never been able to beat it. My F-16 and F-15 brethren can’t beat it. Nobody I know has ever been able to defend against that combo. That’s why China can’t ever hope to defeat us as is. Send in the Tomahawks and watch us roll back their defenses. It’s something we’ve been training to for 3 decades.’
Photo credit: Courtesy of AVIC and Indian Air Force
