Pakistan scores another success as Indian drones go down

Pakistan on Thursday won another major victory against India in the ongoing clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbours of South Asia.

After scoring a victory early Wednesday when Pakistan’s China-provided J-10 C fighter planes shot down five Indian fighter planes including a first-ever targeting of three French Rafale planes, Pakistan’s armed forces on Thursday successfully shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones.

Air forces across the world today use fighter planes flown by pilots but increasingly also rely on drones, which are flown without pilots on board. Instead, they are controlled from the ground through advanced radars and computers connected to drones.

The perfect kill of India’s drones further cemented Pakistan’s capacity to defend its airspace, just a day after Wednesday’s attack by India.

Together, the two hits of the fighter planes and drones surprised analysts worldwide who closely track the performance of manned and unmanned fighter planes. More importantly, the image of the growing strength of the Indian Air Force with the induction of new fighter planes was instantly shattered.

As the reputation of the Rafale took a hit on Wednesday, its share prices in Europe also fell. Nervous investors stepped away from the company as they awaited clarity on how the Rafale will recover its lost reputation as a formidable fighter plane. Meanwhile, the loss of 25 Harop drones over a single day brought down its reputation as a state-of-the-art system for tracking and targeting goals in enemy territory.

With Pakistan successfully fighting back the twin threats from the Rafale and Harop, analysts on Thursday were awaiting news of Pakistan’s response, as spelt out by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The success against India’s manned and unmanned aerial platforms over two days, gave Pakistan a clear victory.

As for Pakistan’s response, the Pakistan Air Force [PAF] has carefully and successfully equipped itself with high-performance aircrafts, notably the JF-17 Block III, the J-10C and a range of unmanned drones developed locally as well as drawn from China and Turkey.

Going forward, PAF plans to induct South Asia’s first 5th generation fighter planes are already in motion, securing its place as the dominant air force in the region. Those plans relate to the PAF waiting to acquire a batch of the Chinese J-31 5th generation fighters, armed with some of the world’s most advanced technologies.

For India, its already purchased 36 Rafales at a price tag of eight billion US dollars received a major setback this week. To make matters much worse, Delhi has recently signed a contract worth approximately U$ 7.5 billion for the purchase of another batch of Rafales to equip its two aircraft carriers. These purchases now face questions over the wisdom surrounding one of the world’s most expensive fighter planes, which lost out badly in the conflict against Pakistan.