WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD — A Chinese-made J-10 fighter jet operated by the Pakistani Air Force shot down at least two Indian military aircraft during a deadly aerial engagement on Wednesday, according to U.S. intelligence officials speaking to Reuters. The confirmed use of Beijing’s advanced warplane against a Western-made fighter marks a significant milestone for Chinese military aviation and could reshape global perceptions of airpower dynamics in contested regions like Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.
A U.S. official, speaking under condition of anonymity, said there was “high confidence” that Pakistan deployed the J-10 jet to fire air-to-air missiles at Indian aircraft, downing at least two. Another official confirmed that one of the aircraft shot down was a French-made Dassault Rafale, among the most modern fighters in the Indian Air Force’s arsenal. The officials also clarified that U.S.-made F-16s, long a staple of Pakistan’s fleet, were not involved in the engagement.
The Indian Air Force has yet to publicly acknowledge the loss of any of its aircraft and claimed it had instead carried out successful strikes on what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” inside Pakistan. However, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters Thursday that three Rafales were destroyed in combat, asserting that Pakistan had downed a total of five Indian planes over two days of clashes.
The incident, now confirmed by Western sources, is the first known case of a Chinese-made J-10 successfully engaging and shooting down Western-origin fighter jets in live combat. The J-10 and the Rafale are both classified as generation 4.5 fighter aircraft, representing a near-peer level of capability in modern air warfare.
Defense analysts in Washington and European capitals are watching closely. “Air warfare communities in China, the U.S., and Europe will be extremely interested to analyze what tactics, systems, and weapons worked in this engagement,” said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “This kind of real-world use provides a rare opportunity to study performance.”
One focal point is the deployment of China’s PL-15 air-to-air missile, which is believed to have been used in the engagement. Social media has lit up with comparisons between the PL-15 and the European Meteor missile, used on Rafale jets and manufactured by the MBDA consortium. However, analysts caution that critical details — including whether the Rafales were equipped with Meteors and how they were employed — remain unknown.
In France, Dassault Aviation and the MBDA group, which jointly produce the Rafale and its weapon systems, were unavailable for comment due to a public holiday.
The aerial confrontation is part of a broader spike in military tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, who have fought three full-scale wars and numerous skirmishes since partition. Late Thursday, blasts were reported across Jammu in Indian-administered Kashmir, with Indian military sources suspecting a Pakistani drone strike. Pakistan, in turn, claimed to have shot down 25 Indian drones overnight, while India said it intercepted multiple Pakistani missile and drone attacks on military targets.
The engagement comes as the U.S. and its allies increasingly scrutinize China’s military capabilities amid growing tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The performance of Chinese-designed aircraft in real combat could influence both arms sales and strategic calculations across the Indo-Pacific.
Still, Western officials urge caution in drawing definitive conclusions from the clash. “We know so little right now,” one Western defense industry insider said. “There’s a lot more we need to verify before this becomes a benchmark.”
