India loses top fighter jet – bad news for its future air combat

Three advanced French Rafale fighters downed as Pakistan fires Chinese missiles from its Chinese-Pakistani J-10 jets

by Stephen Bryen   May 9, 2025

Part 2

1▶ The combat that took place was at a distance, not a classical close-encounter dogfight. Pakistan was operating over Pakistani air space when its J-10 jet (Chinese but co-produced in Pakistan) launched Chinese PL-15 air to air missiles. Some parts of a PL-15 missile have been recovered on Indian territory, including part of its AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar ▶3

Chinese image of the launch of a PL-15