Islamabad:
Chinese fighter planes may have stolen the spotlight after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) killed six Indian hunting planes, including Rafale, very advanced, but this extraordinary feat was not possible without critical indigenous technology which sent shock waves around the world.
“Our Chinese friends even want to know the operational details. How we did,” said a source aware of development.
When India induced Rafale jets in its air force, Pakistan lost the capacity of “first blow” and the PAF was aware of the fact. The Swift Retort operation in February 2019 in response to Balakot strikes in India may have been the last battle and fight for conventional dogs.
Even at that time, PAF showed overviews of its prowess in the electromagnetic sphere when it blocked the Indian Mig-21, which makes it difficult to escape the killing. But the PAF was still far from having the technology to excel in the multi-domain.
The enthronement of J10-C was Pakistan’s response to the Rafael of India, but it was not enough.
The paradigm shift came after the marshal of the air chief Zaheer Ahmad Babar took care of the PAF in March 2021. He had imagined that the future wars would no longer be conventional and that he had therefore started to work on the idea of the multi-domain.
A “multi-domain” refers to operations that integrate and synchronize capacities in several areas of war to achieve the objectives of the mission.
The key areas are as follows: traditional operations based on planes, II) Land – Coordination with land forces, III) SEA – involving naval power, IV) Space – satellites, missile warning, navigation (GPS) and communications, V) Cyber Warfare, Defense of the network and cyber operations, vi) Spectrum electromagnetic) – Jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme Jammation.
The Multi-Domains PAF operation includes real-time images, cyber units invalidating enemy radar, drones providing surveillance and fighter planes launching precision strikes.
“While being coordinated by secure and network communications,” said the source.
“In modern war, you can have many toys, but there is no use of these toys if they don’t talk to each other,” according to the source.
For example, Pakistan has acquired radars from different countries. The integration of technologies that have different origins were a difficult task.
The source said that the PAF has done is that it has developed an indigenous data link that has integrated all these systems.
As part of the modernization plan, the PAF created the PAF Cyber Command (PAFCC) and the PAF Space Command (PAFSC) in Islamabad. The PAF also created the NASTP (National Aerospace Science & Technology Park) which has become a center for various native programs.
On the night of April 28 and 29, the High Command of the PAF was on alert. At the Command Operation Center (COC), the integrated system was put to test for the first time in Real War Theater, although the PAF did several war games to check its effectiveness.
After midnight, the system immediately spotted four burst aircraft when they took off and flew over the Jammu and the cashmere of Indian origin. The chief of air and his team looked at the movements of the planes live. The PAF jets were in the air in no time and Pakistan managed to blur some of the Rafale systems, forcing the Indian jets to flee. The potential hostile act has been thwarted.
All Indian fighter planes, including 14 Rafale, when they took off on the evening of May 6 and 7 to launch a series of missile strikes inside Pakistan were immediately identified by electronic identifiers. Up to 72 Indian fighter planes were in the air and at the bottom of their territory. However, the Pakistani side could see and follow their movements.
According to the rules of commitments given to Pakistani pilots, Indian fighter planes are only slaughtered if they released a weapon. As they pulled missiles inside Pakistan, the rules of commitments changed the pilots into the Ails and PAF were invited to shoot them down.
Due to the integrated data link, the Pakistani pilots had clear visibility and a necessary ground support allowing them to hit the eye of the target bulls. It was for the first time that Rafale was shot in a combat action. It was also the first time that Chinese and Western technologies have been tested on the battlefield and China came out in the lead.
While cooperation in China-Pakistan has played a key role, the importance of the native system developed by the PAF in recent years cannot be ignored, according to sources.
“Losing six fighter planes in a battle is a massive blow for the Indian Air Force,” said a PAF officer, who added while the nation cherished the victory they were preparing for the next challenge.
