Pakistan's J-10CE Fighters Down Six Indian Aircraft in Night Air Battle, Chinese Sources Claim

GD&TĐ - The latest information from China Central Television shows that Pakistan's J-10CE fighters independently shot down a series of advanced Indian fighter jets. Although the largest air battle in modern history between the Indian and Pakistani air forces took place more than a year ago, on the night of May 7, 2025, its details have been revealed very slowly. In particular, official confirmation that Chinese-made J-10 fighters achieved their first victories only appeared 6 months later, and now the method of their use has been disclosed. This was done by China Central Television (CCTV), through an interview with academician Ben De, who develops radar targeting systems and stations, including the KLJ-7A for the J-10. The interview was cited by Sohu. The report said that in total, Pakistan's J-10CE fighters shot down 6 Indian Air Force aircraft, including 3 Rafales. No J-10CE was lost. In light of this, Defense Express noted that Pakistan initially claimed to have shot down 2 Rafales, 1 MiG-29, 1 Su-30MKI, and 1 drone. But later, during the night battle, the number increased, and they now claim to have shot down an additional 2 Rafales and 1 Mirage 2000. India did not confirm these losses, but there was independent evidence of the loss of one Rafale with tail number BS-001. Since then, the press has believed that the key to the Pakistani Air Force's success was better air combat organization and superiority in long-range radar reconnaissance aircraft - 8 Swedish Saab 2000 Erieye and 4 Chinese ZDK-03 (Y-8), compared to 3 EMB-145AEW Netra and 3 A-50EI in service with India. At the same time, the combination of three Chinese components: the ZDK-03 airborne early warning aircraft, the J-10CE fighter, and the PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile, is considered the main 'success formula' of the Pakistani Air Force. In particular, many experts believed that the J-10CE could not activate its onboard radar and launch the PL-15 missile after being guided by the ZDK-03 AWACS, which then controlled the air-to-air missile from a safe distance. However, Academician Ben De stated that the J-10CE used its KLJ-7A radar in the attack on Indian aircraft. Pakistani pilots independently searched, detected, and then destroyed targets at a range of 200 km. All this happened without triggering the radar and missile warning systems on Indian Air Force aircraft. This was thanks to the KLJ-7A radar being built on GaN technology, allowing reduced output power without compromising detection range, as well as special algorithms for operation. Specifically, the KLJ-7A uses continuous frequency changes over a wide band, pulse compression, and disguises waveforms as 'noise'. As a result, according to China's claims, not only the Russian warning systems on MiG-29 and Su-30MKI aircraft, but also the famous Thales Spectra system installed on Rafale fighters, became useless. However, it should be added that any claims from China need to be scrutinized carefully. (According to Sohu/Defense Express)