A J-10CE fighter jet conducts test flight and hosts training for its pilot shortly before it is delivered to the Pakistan Air Force on March 11, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of AVIC

A report by Reuters on Saturday offered more insights into how Pakistan’s Chinese-made J-10 fighter jet shot down India’s cutting-edge Rafale fighter jet during the two countries’ clash on May 7. According to the report, the Rafale pilots underestimated the range of Chinese-made PL-15 missile fired by the J-10.

During the hour-long fight, which took place in darkness, the J-10s shot down at least one Rafale, Reuters reported citing US officials, while Pakistan claimed the J-10 was used to shoot down three French-made Rafale planes, per another Reuters report.

The downing of the Rafale surprised many in the military community and raised questions about the effectiveness of Western military hardware against untested Chinese alternatives, Reuters report said.

Central to its downing was an Indian intelligence failure concerning the range of the China-made PL-15 missile fired by the J-10 fighter rather than the performance of the Rafale, Reuters claimed after interviewing two Indian officials and three of their Pakistani counterparts.

The faulty intelligence gave the Rafale pilots a false sense of confidence they were out of Pakistani firing distance, which they believed was only around 150 kilometers, the Indian officials said, referring to the widely cited range of PL-15's export variant, Reuters reported.

The PL-15 that hit the Rafale was fired from around 200 kilometers away, according to Pakistani officials, and even farther according to Indian officials. That would make it among the longest-range air-to-air strikes recorded, Reuters said.

Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that one of the biggest characteristics of the PL-15E is its long range. Its maximum attack range could surpass previous missiles by a very large margin.

The Global Times learned that the PL-15E uses a mixed guidance mode of inertial navigation system, satellite navigation system, datalink and active radar terminal guidance. Its range was labeled 145 kilometers at Airshow China 2021 when it made public debut. 

India's defense and foreign ministries did not return requests for comment about the intelligence mistakes, Reuters reported. Delhi hasn't acknowledged a Rafale being shot down, but France's air chief told reporters in June that he had seen evidence of the loss of that fighter and two other aircraft flown by India, including a Russian-made Sukhoi. A top Dassault executive also told French lawmakers that month that India had lost a Rafale in operations, though he didn't have specific details, according to the report.

In response to the media question at the 55th Paris Air Show in June, "Which is superior, the J-10CE or the Rafale?" Wu Jiwei, a spokesperson at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), told the Global Times that both aircraft are advanced fighters on the world stage, and he expressed hope that all cutting-edge fighter jets from different countries could contribute to safeguarding global peace.

When asked about the Chinese Ministry of National Defense's assessment on the equipment supplied by the Chinese military to Pakistan in the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson at the Chinese Defense Ministry, said at a regular press conference in May that Pakistan and India are neighbors who cannot move away from each other. We call on the both sides to keep calm, exercise restraint and avoid complicating the situation. China will continue to play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.