The Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) transformation into a modern and agile force is summed up in the statement “Air Dominance and Denial in Contested Airspace – The 4.5 Gen Fighter BVR Conflict”. The technology, strategy, and human element synergised with resolve has evolved PAF into one single, unified, powerful force. It was not merely the J-10C fighter and its PL-15 missile that achieved “Air Dominance”, the PAF achieved “Spectrum-Dominance” through more than simple raw air power.
Hardware alone did not guarantee winning the skies, rather the mastery stemmed from a combination of multifaceted electronic warfare (EW), active defense systems countering enemy sensors and cyber-methods of drone neutralization, paired alongside with space-based surveillance, served as a wholesome solution. Final “Denial” was showcased by shooting down of Rafale armed with Meteors seeking air dominance. The PAF team which was skilled and disciplined with their “TrainFight-Win” mentality, commanded real-time impactful data from the alert AWACS and ground radars. The loss of three Rafales during this battle demonstrated that the much-touted European fighter-dominance was left wanting during the disciplined performance and orchestrated chaos which the PAF exhibited against the Indian Air Force. ACM Babar masterfully manoeuvred his multi-domain assets, like on the chessboard, through novel strategic leadership focused on a ‘lean and hard-hitting’ air power, instead of the mass used by the adversary. The title isn’t just jargon- it’s a testament to how ingenuity and indigenization can shatter illusions of invincibility, proving that in modern warfare, dominance is earned by synergy and denial by design.
Sky is not the limit!
Pakistan Air Force that fought the four-day war between 6/7 May night to May 10 was a very different force compared with its glorious past. It was a thoroughly overhauled, transformed, muti domain-capable, agile force that could surprise the much bigger, in fact almost twice the size Indian Air Force in a fast moving, dynamic clash across the Line of Control (LOC) and across the international border. The transformation started immediately and in the earnest after the incumbent Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu assumed command in March 2021. He inherited a service that had started to look inward with strong dose of introspection. In his first address he told the rank and file of the Air Force that while Swift Retort in Feb 2019 was a great victory, PAF could neither rest on its laurels nor expect the same scenario that they were presented with, and the way they had rehearsed during their previous exercises. He said that the service must practice for all other possible scenarios that could come up in a future, inevitable conflict with India. He could not have been more right. The scenario that came during the brief 96-hour clash was indeed very different and dangerous, both in numbers, intent and complexity.
The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) had to make some clear choices between the mission, the force development goals and strategy, and the fiscal space. He chose a lean and effective airforce and transformed it for relevance to modern warfare parameters, to face an air force almost twice the size with a clear edge in the high-tech category.
When the IAF went for 36 Rafales in preference to the F-18 Super-Hornet, the intent was to clearly upset the parity we had in the F-16 with the Sukhoi-30 and Miage-2000. Recall when Modi wished that, had he had the Rafales, his air force would not have lost Abhinandan’s Mig-21 and the Su-30 that we claimed. The CAS went for an achievable combat-mission:
“Defeat a bigger airforce with small agile force reinforced with a full domain capability”.
He gave up the previous practice of line comparison in high, medium (and low-tech in the past) tech aircraft. He conquered the fiscal space problem by inducting a smaller number of the 4.5 Gen J-10C, and continuing the JF-17 program with block-2 and block-3 aircraft. When reinforced with a multi-domain environment comprising electronic warfare, cyber, space, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and network-centricity; the result would be an air power that could take on and defeat a bigger air force.
Obviously, this modernization did not come about easily or in a day. As mentioned, the helmsman had the vision and resolve to translate his vision of a lean but a mean service supported by the five mentioned domains for very quick decision-making and fast paced operations. The use of the term “total spectrum” operations became the norm in the cor ridors at the Air Headquarters which popularized a holistic approach encompassing all aspects of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), from air, space, and cyber operations. These enabled the hard-kill weapon system to ensure a complete and integrated operational capability to finally bear the weapons right into the targets. This involved managing and controlling the EMS to enable and protect air, space, and cyber operations, while also exploiting vulnerabilities in the enemy’s EMS.
The OODA Edge: How PAF Out-cycled India’s Decision-Making This is exactly what happened. The PAF actually displayed a shorter OODA loop, with faster observation, orientation, decision, and action. It offered several advantages; led to quicker decision-making, improved adaptability, and a competitive edge, especially in dynamic environments.
The PAF was actually a step ahead all the time when the first air combat took place on the 6/7 night in a fastpaced, dynamic environment across the LOC and across the international border. The revamped and modernized airforce, with more eyes and ears, could anticipate almost every move of the adversary.
Lean, lethal and unseen: ACM Babar’s Multi-Domain Chess Game The CAS carefully selected his team members, and chose officers who understood and inherited his clarity, resolve, beliefs and convictions to help create a truly modern, hard hitting air force. Every team member selected for various projects was completely focused with persevering discipline to achieve the objectives, set by the air staff. The team thought and reasoned through all conceptual and technical problems and found cost-effective solutions. Bold options with clarity, became the buzz phrase. At the end of the very carefully chosen, aggressive inductions, within the available fiscal space; and creation of the multi-domain capability, the kill chain was in place to go to war. This enabled the air crew to find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess the damage. That simply meant that the pilot-controller team could gather information about potential targets, which could include enemy locations, movements, and capabilities, and determine its precise location. This enabled it to track a moving target, to ensure it’s still the intended target, select the appropriate weapon or platform, considering its vulnerability and the desired effect. Finally, it could engage the target with the selected weapon system, do the battle damage assessment (BDA) and determine if the target was successfully neutralized and if any further action is required. This would enable all pilots and combat-controllers to take split second decisions to exploit the quick shooting opportunities in an extremely dynamic, fast paced opportunities. This also enabled the air staff to 24/7 monitor the operations with flawless clarity and make superior decisions to achieve the objectives at all levels.
Indigenization Unleashed: NASTP and Pakistan’s Homegrown Arsenal
Making force development sustainable was a priority. The emphasis was clearly on quality versus quantity and focused indigenisation. It was therefore realized early on that we needed niche technologies in key modern warfare enablers, namely electronic warfare, space systems, cyber operations, networked system that would truly produce an Integrated Air Defence System (IADS). The newly integrated AD construct as IADS that CAS had envisioned is much ahead of and advanced, as compared to PADS-77, which itself was a wonder of its time. To support these goals, an echo system was thus created in the form of National Aeronautics, Space and Technology Park (NASTP). The CAS was very cognisant of the fact that, to make force development sustainable in the long term, focused indigenisation is pivotal. Thus, today NASTP has started to serve that end. By mid2021 all teams for specific projects were in place and things got into motion with speed. There was much criticism that this was not the core activity for an airforce and that their job was to only control and fly combat aircraft, but the Air Chief was substituting for something that was amiss in our nation… the requisite technological base to create the enablers for full domain operations. Link17 was evolved as a data-link system to enable communication and data exchange between various aerial assets, including the domestically developed JF-17 Thunder aircraft. It allowed for the sharing of information like target data and situational awareness among different aircraft and ground control centers.
The J-10C Gambit: How the ‘Chinese Dragon’ Outflew the Rafale
The most important induction was the J-10C when the adversary acquired thirty-six Marcel Dassault French Rafales, universally acclaimed and widely used and operated by many air forces. This was carefully chosen after exhaustive analysis by the IAF and was preferred over the F-18 Super-Hornet. With its Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and tried out 150 km range-capable Meteor Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile, it was expected to out-perform all leading PAF fighters. The Meteor was carried by the Grippen and the Euro Fighter (Typhoon) and had been fired in anger probably in Libya, Syria, Iraq, etc. The J-10 C also had an AESA radar that could look further in range because of a bigger antenna and carried the PL-15 BVR that promised a 200 km range in engaging fighter size targets. The key was that the Chinese aircraft with its impressive figures was untried. The air battle on 6/7 May night was to change the equation with astonishing results, and make it world famous in the 4.5 Gen category.
The Forensic Air War: See First, Shoot First, Stay Silent
Some commentators on Air Power recently observed: That the age of arrogance in air combat is over. Victory now belongs to one who sees first, locks first, and says nothing else until the other side is falling. This is not air combat; this is silent forensic warfare- and Pakistan just gave the world its masterclass.
This is what the CAS set about ensuring against a much bigger adversary, with a shoe-string budget. His vehicles or the untried machines for this were the J-10C and the JF-17 Block 3 with its own AESA radar and the PL-15 BVR missile. ACM Sidhu was about prove to the world that the former with its untested avionics and missile was about to surprise all peer rivals.
PAF Inductions and Doctrines Severely Tested
The opportunity to employ the concepts and the newly acquired weapon system came in April, May 2025. The situation was in fact forced upon Pakistan, when Indian deep state carried out a false flag operation in Pehelgam where twenty-six tourists were killed by five supposed terrorists. Motivations could have been many, but apparently Modi wished some misadventure before the coming Bihar elections, like he did before operation Swift Retort in February 2019.
He could have created this to arrest his sagging popularity, where the Indian Nation denied him a two third majority in the Parliament to modify the constitution. Or else he wished to create an environment where he could subdue a Kashmiri population that was agitating against the removal of articles 370 and 35-A from the Indian constitution. He could not have been more wrong. The Pakistani military and in that the PAF was fully prepared and had developed the abilities to surprise Modi and his military
The Operations!
The IAF, by virtue of being the attacking force could choose the time and place of its offensive. It was shuffling its key assets like the Rafales from one base to the other, so that PAF cannot track them. While the Indian Government and the IAF dramatized the whole affair and announced pun ishing Pakistan with its full might, the Almighty had written a different script. Without making noise, the CAS and his team activated all domains with complete silence and took all requisite safeguards. North to south air defence alerts (ADA), periodic Combat Air Patrols (CAPs), became the norm. EW systems were activated, Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) went afloat, monitoring all airspace and beefing up the radar picture on 24/7 basis.
All five domains namely, Electronic Warfare EW, cyber, space, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and network-centricity were made fully active and gave, fused/ coordinated real time information across all channels, including Link 17.
On the 6/7-night early hours, some activity was monitored in the south around Bhuj. Sometime later some more activity was seen in the center across the border between Lahore and Bahawalpur. The PAF and the army had some intelligence about the impending attack. Till then it could be a probing effort to feel for our defences and reaction or was thought to be pure deception. Then by mid-night almost seventy aircraft appeared in the IAF Western Air Command (WAC) area. This was clearly identified as the main offensive. The PAF by now had scrambled a force of around 35/40 aircraft, with maximum number in Kashmir area and the rest around Lahore, Bahawalpur. The initial effort opposite Bhuj was also now brought up north. The Indian effort was distributed in four packages of 15/20 aircraft each. The force comprised the Rafales, Mirage-2000, SU-30 and Mig29. The PAF effort was composed of the J-10C, F-16 and the JF-17 Block-3. The mission assigned to the PAF-package, was Defensive Counter Air Operations (DCAO) i.e. to deter the enemy aircraft from crossing the border. Whenever the enemy fighter came towards the border, our fighters threatened to intercept them, forcing them to retreat. The enemy packages were forced to stay at around 70/ 80 km from the border.
From Deterrence to Destruction: The OCA Pivot over Bahawalpur
This cat and mouse activity continued till about midnight when the radars monitored a high-speed projectile fly across the international border towards Bahawalpur. As the PAF had decided that any violation of the international border was a red line that is when the CAS who was monitoring the intense activity in the Combat Operations Centre (COC), ordered to change the posture from DCAO to Offensive Counter Air Operations (OCAO). That meant all PAF fighters, henceforth instead of deterring the enemy fighters from crossing the border, would manoeuvre to shoot them down.
“The duty of the fighter pilot is to patrol his area of the sky, and shoot down any enemy fighters in that area. Anything else is rubbish.” – Captain Manfred von Richthofen The ‘Red Baron’, Luftstreitkräfte, 1917.
The PAF pilots, vectored by their combat controllers did just what the famous Red Baron said. They intended to shoot anyone who crossed the border or fired any missile across the same. This time fortunately they had full visibility of the battlespace with the help of the five enabling-domains. Constantly fused and coordinated information was being fed to the decision makers in the COC and to all combat-controllers and pilots. On the enemy side as the PAF formations closed in, the IAF Rafale quickly launched its SCALP (Strike Air-launched Cruise Missile) with a 300 km range and maybe some other missile, against the alleged terrorist training targets and the so-called terrorist launch pads. Because of the stiff opposition, seemingly the weapons were pickled at the outer range limits and outside their optimum envelopes, hence some compromised their accuracy, didn’t engage their targets and caused civilian casualties.
This was when the training of the last 1.5 years came in handy. During the Combat Commanders Courses and at the Air Combat Center of Excellence the PAF had trained hard within the PAF weapon systems with large formations and with multi-domain operations as the main focus. PAF even showcased its multi-domain operations and capabilities with complete kill chain competencies at least notionally, for the guest air forces, during Indus Shield series of exercises.
“You fight like you train”. Motto US Navy Fighter Weapons School TOPGUN
Train Like You Fight: PAF’s TOP GUN Doctrine in the Indus Valley PAF flipped the TOP GUN School motto “You fight like you train!” on its head, and made it into: “You train like you fight!” As the CAS had stated, the PAF, unlike the Swift Retort where there were only around twelve enemy fighters, the 2025 scenario comprised around five elite IAF squadrons (around 70 combat aircraft) versus around two PAF squadrons (around 30 combat aircraft). Fortunately, the PAF had trained for many scenarios and this was possibly one of them.
The service had accordingly, gone through operational reorientation during the last one year-plus, along with realistic training for mastery in full multi-domain/ kill chain scenarios. Therefore, all requisite elements on the 6/7 night worked in perfect synergy and coordination, exactly the way PAF rank and file had rehearsed.
Night of the Long Sticks: BVR Combat Redefines Aerial Supremacy There was about one hour of gruelling BVR night-combat, in which multiple-missiles launches took place from both sides. Apparently, more missiles were launched within the envelope, by the J-10C because of its superior radar and the longer stick, PL-15 BVR missile. Thereafter the PAF chose to exercise restraint, when IAF had been inflicted with losses and the latter was forced to discontinue the offensive, otherwise there could have been more shootings against the enemy aircraft. No sooner that this happened, the IAF force quickly managed to extricate and withdrew to its bases.
Rafale’s fall from Grace: Three Jets down
The results were rather obvious. Five IAF fighters were downed as per the first assessment. One supposedly injured Rafale probably shot somewhere opposite Lahore, apparently crashed on approach to Bhatinda. Their wreckages fell in the vicinity of Bhatinda, Akhnur, Jammu, Udhampur and Srinagar. Later two aircraft were reported falling in the vicinity of Srinagar. Three of their pride Rafale aircraft went down. One Sukoi-30, one Mig-29, and one Mirage-2000 too were confirmed shot down.
Beyond the Radar: HUMINT, Villagers, and the Wreckage Truth PAF kept a very stringent criteria for announcing the kills. Number one, the target was locked by the aircraft radar, two, the missile radar locked up the target into a no escape zone, three, the target disappeared from the aircraft radar as well as the AWACS’ and groundbased radar screens. The ultimate test was the HUMINT. The Kashmiri villagers identified three wreckages. The Hindu newspaper gave three wreckages’ pictures and then deleted them under government pressure. Praveen Sawhney declared five wreckages in his podcast. The Martin Baker Company that manufactures fighter aircraft ejection seats maintains a record of every pilot whose life is saved by its technology and regularly shares this information on its official X account. The company recently updated its tally of lives saved, increasing the number from 7,784 to 7,788. According to the company, one of the four newly recorded survivors was involved in the crash of a U.S. Navy Super Hornet in the Red Sea. The remaining three, the news said, were Indian Rafale pilots, who were evidently shot down by Pakistan on May 6 and 7, 2025.
Christine Fair who is a neutral American political scientist and a security analyst (very critical towards Pakistan) specializing on South Asia, said in a TV interview with Karan Thapar that, Pakistan had indeed shot some PAF fighters. The numbers may have varied but according to her, the French had confirmed the loss of their most popular Rafale fighter in the skirmish.
She also quoted other sources like Praveen Sawhney that the IAF had ost fighters in the Beyond Visual Range missile duel, between the two air forces. PAF officials announced 5 fighters and one large Israeli Heron drone shot down initially, but added one later after careful investigation. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced later that a 6th fighter was also downed. Senior PAF officials opined that more fighters may have been downed but not announced because the wreckage maybe at inaccessible places, thus the last HUMINT criteria could not be fulfilled.
Silent Killers: Cyber Jamming, GPS Spoofing, and the Drone War
After the aerial-contest fiasco, the Indians launched the drone war on the 9th morning and sent in around 100 Israeli Herops into Pakistan. Capable of 1000 km range and a 23 Kg warhead, over 90% of these were disarmed through a soft kill. The Army Defence Command assets, also worked in coordination with PAF Air Defence Command in engaging and disabling the Indian Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) threat. The latter used its cyber command and space assets together to first disconnect and jam the datalink that controlled the drone and then successfully spoofed its GPS with wrong coordinates. Consequently, none of the enemy drones could return back to India. Any drone that reached over any target area, was taken out by guns.
S-400s in Smoke: How CM-400AKG Rewrote Missile Defense Rules
Having failed in the drone war, the Indians launched surface to surface Brahmos missiles on 10 May night, onto PAF bases with almost no damage. PAF retaliated and attacked Indian airfields with combat aircraft in coordination with the army launching Alfatah-1 and 2 SSMs. PAF attacked 14 airfields, C2 Centers, Brahmos Storage site, and two S-400 sites. Some other high impact, non-escalatory targets were also struck. PAF also launched drone operations across India, spread across spectrum of altitudes and speed. Its UASs, hit military targets and flew over cities. This response forced India not to pursue drone-operations the next day. PAFs response in manned and unmanned operations remained overwhelming.
Seemingly after losing its S-400 batteries to CM-400 attacks the Indian government came under pressure and sought a ceasefire through Washington, Riyadh and Turkey.
IAF Bluster: Dissecting India’s Post-Conflict Claims
During the press briefing by the Indian military, Air Marshal Bharti was embarrassed when he was questioned whether IAF had lost aircraft. His answer said the obvious, when he opined that there were combat losses during war and that the question should be whether they achieved their objectives or not? He hedged another question, if the IAF had shot Pakistani combat aircraft. He said that he had the numbers but he will not tell. Christine Fair (CF) gave a firm opinion CF on IAF denial of losing five fighters: French officials confirm the loss of the two Rafales. The international media has been more supportive than not of the multiple aircraft loss. So, you know if I were to assess these at probability, I would say the two aircraft, I would assess at 90% probability up to four, I would put it at 70% probability up to five. CF on IAF claim on shooting PAF fighters: Now, India’s director general of air operations, a gentleman called Air Marshal Bharti in a formal press briefing has claimed that India has shot down an unspecified number of Pakistani Air Force planes. He claims he knows the number, but he’s also refused to reveal it. As far as I know, no international media has mentioned this whatsoever. How do you view this claim as Bakwas? There’s no evidence for it. When the IAF DG Air Operations was asked about the damage done to PAF airfields infrastructure, he said that 20% infrastructure had been destroyed. Karan Thapar and Christine Fair conversation on the subject went on as follows:
KT: Now India has released satellite images suggesting extensive damage to Pakistani bases in Chaklala, Rahimyar Khan, Sargodha, Jacobabad and Bholari. The Indian Express newspaper claims that 20% of Pakistan’s air force infrastructure has been destroyed. If all of that is confirmed, how significant would it be?
CF: There has not been massive destruction. There’s no evidence for that and there’s certainly no evidence. In fact, I’m astonished by the claim that 20% of Pakistan’s air force has been rendered unusable. I’ve never heard that before. It’s quite an astonishing claim and most certainly to be false.
CONCLUSION
From Swift Retort to Swift Dominance – PAF’s Doctrine Evolution
The Pakistan Air force has come of age. Air Chief Marshal Sidhu lived up to his word and the message he gave through various channels to the enemy. He said that the PAF had trained very hard and was going to hit very hard. When the first combat took place in the air on the night 6/7 May, the Indian Air Force was clearly outperformed. Its elite front-line fighter, the Rafale had its reputation badly bruised when three of these leading European machines went down. Smart inductions by the Air Chief within the limited fiscal space and aggressive training with multi-domain assets i.e. in electronic warfare, cyber, space, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and network-centricity paid off. Through extensive training he created a kill chain where his thoroughly trained personnel could find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess the target damage.
J-31 on the Horizon: China’s facilitation in Pakistan’s Future Fleet?
What happens in the future? The Chinese J-10C so outperformed and outranged the Rafale that it should be the 4.5 Gen combat aircraft of today and tomorrow. The Europeans are probably taken aback at this small miracle that the PAF performed with the Chinese weapon systems.The senior contacts within the PAF said that its leadership is now looking ahead, how best to keep PAF capable and compatible to evolving trends in air power, with a strong conviction that the next war/ operations would be different than what we witnessed. That in view of all this, a whole lot of technology, capability and cooperation/ collaboration options are being evaluated. The only constant, they said and believed in warfare is ‘Change’. The PAF Air Chief, in this regard, has probably had a word with the Chinese for the J-31/35 5th Gen fighter acquisition. If the lead-in European Rafale fighter, flying with a number of European and Middle Eastern air forces could not compete with the J-10C, then how would they fight against the J-20 and its derivatives? What about the 6th Gen fighter already flying in China? The Indian Air Force must be worried, because meeting the two front-war threat against both China and Pakistan, has just become more difficult if not a nightmare. The Indian Air Chiefs in the past, had asked for 45 plus squadrons for the purpose, and the government sanctioned 42. The figures now have gone haywire, just because the PAF led by a dynamic, visionary commander has helped disturb all equations and all balances. Time will tell what the PAF Chief has in mind now. He must already be thinking of the next acquisitions and transfer of technology. His air staff has already done the hard work to install the multi-domain, indigenous hardware and produce mastery in all five domains. They would now be thinking of consolidating the gains. The CAS has proven to the world that the kill chain he established with the multi-domain environment, proved lethal and equal to the task. He and the coming helmsmen in the future have to just keep at it, to achieve the mission of the PAF “To provide the most assured, cost-effective, and efficient aerial defense of Pakistan, in synergy with other services”, to help secure Pakistan.
This is very much doable and the PAF has just proven this. Mere addition of the J-10C (in the limited fiscal space) backed up by the five domains, and finally getting results with the kill chain, our aerial defence could not have been more assured, cost effective, and efficient. PAF can now claim to have lived up to what the Quaide Azam expected it to become… An airforce second to none!
Contributed By:
Masood Akhtar
