South Asia: Pakistan has demonstrated a level of military integration that experts say positions its air force at a decisive advantage over its regional rival, India. The key, analysts suggest, lies not in flashy new hardware alone, but in the operational concept of a “kill chain”—a tightly networked system linking radar, aircraft, missiles, and command centers into a seamless loop of detection, tracking, and engagement.
This assessment comes from Michael Dahm, a senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and former U.S. Navy intelligence officer. In an in-depth interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine, Dahm said Pakistan’s ability to merge various Chinese-supplied technologies into a functioning warfighting network signals a transformative leap in air warfare doctrine.
“What we’re seeing is not about one fighter being better than another,” Dahm explained. “It’s about how quickly and effectively an entire system of systems can detect, decide, and destroy.”
According to Dahm, recent developments—including a high-profile engagement reported on May 12 by China Space News—suggest the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has successfully implemented this kill chain under combat-like conditions. While the official sources remain guarded, the scenario involved PAF radars identifying an Indian aircraft, prompting a Pakistani J-10C fighter to launch a long-range air-to-air missile, guided midflight by an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft—likely the Chinese-built KJ-500.
The missile in question? Reportedly the PL-15E, China’s premier long-range air-to-air missile with an effective engagement envelope exceeding 200 kilometers. If reports are accurate, the target—a French-built Rafale jet operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF)—was struck at a staggering 182 kilometers, which, if verified, could mark one of the longest BVR (Beyond Visual Range) kills in history.
The “kill chain” is not new. It’s a concept originally developed in the U.S. military, refined for use in joint operations across land, sea, air, cyber, and space domains. It follows a strict progression: Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, and Assess (F2T2EA).
But what Pakistan has done, according to Dahm, is adapt this doctrine with Chinese tools and technology to suit its own regional needs. And that changes the airpower equation.
Each link in Pakistan’s chain—ground-based radar, AEW&C, fighter aircraft, BVR missiles, encrypted data links—is Chinese-made and pre-integrated for plug-and-play interoperability. This creates a faster and more secure flow of information than what the IAF can currently achieve.
In contrast, India’s air force is hobbled by diversity. Its fleet is a patchwork of aircraft from France, Russia, the UK, and indigenous programs. Rafales use French systems. Su-30MKIs use Russian avionics. Tejas jets are equipped with Indian and Israeli components. This mosaic complicates even basic functions like real-time data sharing and target handoff, let alone executing a seamless kill chain.
At the heart of the recent engagement is the J-10C, Pakistan’s newest 4.5-generation multirole fighter sourced from China. It comes equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, infrared search and track systems, and compatibility with PL-15 missiles.
The Indian Rafale is, on paper, a superior fighter: stealthier, more agile, and equipped with the highly advanced Meteor BVR missile. But none of that matters, Dahm argues, if the Rafale doesn’t know it’s being targeted.
In a contested battlespace, latency—the delay in receiving and acting on battlefield information—can mean the difference between life and death. Pakistan’s kill chain structure eliminates many of the delays that plague India’s multi-origin systems.
“The PAF’s success is not about J-10C versus Rafale. It’s about a coherent digital ecosystem,” Dahm explained. “It’s a doctrine win.”
China’s role in this equation is pivotal. It’s not merely supplying Pakistan with weapons. It’s exporting an integrated digital warfare infrastructure—a military ecosystem.
The J-10C’s avionics, the KJ-500’s radar, the PL-15’s guidance systems, and Pakistan’s ground radar arrays all speak the same electronic language. Updates, training, and doctrine flow through a unified pipeline.
By contrast, India has to translate between multiple “languages”: French, Russian, Israeli, and indigenous. Sensor fusion becomes a technical nightmare, and third-party vendors must often custom-build middleware to connect incompatible systems—slowing everything down.
This has direct battlefield consequences. In modern aerial combat, whoever shoots first usually wins. If Pakistan’s kill chain enables earlier detection and faster decision cycles, it can neutralize more technologically advanced platforms before they even enter the engagement envelope.
The IAF fields more aircraft than the PAF and has a broader range of capabilities. But these advantages are being eroded by structural inefficiencies. Its Su-30MKIs, the workhorses of the IAF, lack AESA radars—unlike both the Rafale and the J-10C. They also depend on Russian datalinks that don’t integrate well with Western systems.
Moreover, the IAF’s air doctrine has not fully embraced the concept of a digitized battlespace. Despite having world-class assets, the lack of a cohesive battle network undermines their effectiveness.
Even simple coordination across platforms is hamstrung by outdated command structures, limited real-time sensor fusion, and a lack of an indigenous combat cloud—a unified digital environment where data from satellites, drones, ground radar, and fighters can be shared instantly.
India’s procurement strategy, built on geopolitical balancing rather than systems coherence, is beginning to show its limitations.
India’s missile ecosystem is another example. The IAF uses a mix of ASRAAM, R-77, Meteor, and Astra missiles—each with different targeting protocols, command hierarchies, and logistical needs. Pakistan, by contrast, uses PL-series missiles from a single supplier, all embedded within the same data architecture.
This isn’t just a logistical challenge. It creates vulnerability. Each system has different threat libraries and rules of engagement. Coordinating an attack across multiple platforms requires extra steps—and extra time.
In the age of artificial intelligence and real-time data warfare, that time can’t be spared.
Pakistan’s approach has been deliberate. Instead of acquiring a hodgepodge of systems from different suppliers, it has focused on compatibility, speed, and doctrinal alignment. It’s not just buying fighters or missiles; it’s building an end-to-end warfighting system.
The JF-17 Thunder, co-developed with China, may not match the Rafale in specs, but it integrates perfectly with Chinese AEW&C and radar systems. The result is a faster “sensor-to-shooter” loop, which in modern warfare is arguably more important than having the best aircraft on paper.
Pakistan also appears to be converting some of its Chinese AEW&C platforms into electronic warfare (EW) variants, increasing its ability to jam enemy radars, blind incoming missiles, or spoof enemy datalinks.
While these capabilities are still developing, Dahm believes the strategic direction is clear: “Pakistan is moving toward a warfare model where every node is connected, every asset is aware, and every decision is made in near-real time.”
If these trends continue, India will have to rethink its procurement and integration strategies. The current model of mixing suppliers for strategic flexibility may need to be replaced by a more centralized and network-centric doctrine.
There are already signs of this shift. India has begun to explore its own AEW&C programs, invest in AI-driven command systems, and expand its indigenous missile capabilities. But these efforts are still years from bearing fruit.
In the meantime, Pakistan’s streamlined digital war machine—designed, built, and trained in lockstep with Chinese defense doctrine—offers a model of 21st-century warfare that India and other regional powers can’t ignore.
The battle for air superiority in South Asia is no longer about the biggest jet or the fastest missile. It’s about integration, speed, and decision-making loops measured in milliseconds.
Pakistan, with the help of China, has built an air combat ecosystem where detection, targeting, and engagement are all executed within one digital loop. India, by contrast, is still translating across multiple systems, suppliers, and doctrines.
