01/06/2025
🇮🇳⚔️🇵🇰New Data on the Historic India-Pakistan Air Battle and the Downing of the Indian Rafale.
Edited by: Asimakis Psarris
1. Invisible Strike: How the Pakistani J-10C Downed the Rafale Without Emitting a Signal.
2. The Sensor War: The Role of Saab Erieye in the Digital Kill of May 7th.
3. Contactless Warfare: The End of Visual Dogfighting on the India-Pakistan Border.
✈️The Lesson of May 7th and the End of Classic Dogfighting.
👉👉Digital Air Warfare.
📍The aerial engagement on May 7, 2025, near the India-Pakistan border marked a new era. It was not a dogfight involving maneuvers and gunfire, but a digital “execution” carried out through battlefield awareness systems and coordinated digital command. An Indian Rafale were shot down by Pakistani J-10C that had not even activated its radar.
✈️🚀The “Invisible” Strike.
📍The Pakistan Air Force used the Swedish-made Saab Erieye system mounted on a Saab 2000 aircraft. Erieye detected the Indian Rafale and transmitted targeting data to the J-10C via a secure datalink. The J-10C remained in passive mode and launched a PL-15E missile from over 300 km away, remaining undetected. The missile activated its own radar only in the terminal phase, rendering the Rafale’s reaction impossible.
👉👉The New Rule of Aerial Combat.
📍This was not an exception—it’s the new norm. The era of “visual” combat is over. Superiority now belongs to those who possess superior sensor networks, passive tactics, and a unified battlefield picture. Decisions are no longer made by the pilot, but by the system.
✈️🇬🇷Greek AWACS as Strategic Eyes.
📍The Hellenic Air Force operates EMB-145H Erieye AEW&C aircraft, monitoring the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. They coordinate Rafales, F-16Vs, and missile systems, providing early warning and a comprehensive battle picture. On every mission, a Greek Rafale is never alone—it has an airborne command center behind it.
🇨🇳🇸🇪📡Swedish and Chinese Tech Interoperability.
📍Though the Saab Erieye is Swedish/Western and the J-10C is Chinese, integration was achieved through Pakistani innovation. Pakistan has developed its own datalink protocols (like Link-17) and uses compatible Chinese systems. The country also has a proven track record in cross-technology operations, as seen in the mix of American F-16s, Chinese drones, and Turkish platforms.
✒️📙May 7th shows us that air superiority is no longer defined by speed and maneuvering, but by electronic vision, passive presence, and smart connectivity. Whoever sees first—strikes first. And whoever doesn’t see—is simply shot down.
👉👉The new age of air combat does not forgive blindness.
