In a stunning show of force and technological prowess, the skies over South Asia became the stage for what is now being called the largest Beyond Visual Range (BVR) aerial engagement in history. The massive aerial clash between the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) on May 7–8, 2025, involved over 125 combat aircraft and has since captured the attention of military analysts and air power strategists around the globe.
Among the latest to study this unprecedented event is the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), which recently convened a seminar titled “Analysis of India-Pakistan Air Conflict May 7–8, 2025,” explicitly branding the event as “the largest BVR air combat in history.” Images from the Thai forum, now circulating widely on social media, underscore the extent to which this South Asian encounter has become a benchmark for next-generation aerial warfare.
Despite the intensity of the engagement, both air forces reportedly stayed within their respective airspaces. According to CNN, which cited senior Pakistani officials, the massive dogfight saw both sides launch advanced air-to-air missiles from ranges of up to 160 kilometers, relying on Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars and sophisticated airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to locate, track, and engage enemy targets.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed in a press briefing that the PAF faced off against 75–80 Indian fighter jets and claimed the downing of five IAF jets during the 48-hour standoff.
“And we successfully shot down five of those Indian fighter jets,” Dar asserted.
Unofficial reports suggest India may have lost six aircraft during the exchange — including three Dassault Rafales, one Sukhoi Su-30MKI, a MiG-29, and a Mirage 2000.
These losses, if confirmed, would represent the single most devastating operational setback for the IAF in decades, and a major blow to its image as South Asia’s dominant air power.
Perhaps the most significant revelation from the battle was the performance of Pakistan’s J-10C fighters, Chinese-made 4.5-generation multirole jets equipped with PL-15E long-range BVR missiles. According to Pakistani officials and local defence media, a J-10C downed an Indian Rafale fighter at a staggering distance of 182 kilometres, using the PL-15 — a potential record-setting engagement in aerospace history.
The PL-15, developed by China’s Airborne Missile Academy (CAMA), is increasingly seen as a game-changer in modern aerial combat. With a published range of over 200 km in its export form (PL-15E), the missile rivals Western systems such as the AIM-120D AMRAAM and MBDA Meteor in capability and lethality.
In stark contrast, the Rafales — long touted as India’s most capable jets — appeared overwhelmed, suggesting deficiencies either in missile reach, radar detection, or electronic countermeasures.
“The much-hyped Rafale fighters failed miserably, and the Indian Air Force pilots proved they lack proficiency,” Dar controversially stated, provoking sharp denials from New Delhi but sparking critical discussions in Western defence circles.
Pakistan’s J-10C fleet was inducted into service on March 4, 2022, with the aircraft assigned to No. 15 ‘Cobras’ Squadron at Minhas Airbase. With advanced AESA radar, integrated EW systems, and compatibility with cutting-edge BVR munitions like the PL-15, the J-10C was seen as Islamabad’s direct response to New Delhi’s Rafale procurement.
Initially ordering 25 units, Pakistan has since expanded its J-10C fleet, with ongoing negotiations aiming to increase the number to 60 aircraft. This ambitious move underscores Islamabad’s strategic commitment to achieving air parity and preventing airspace domination by its eastern neighbor.
China’s role in enhancing Pakistan’s air combat capability — both in terms of hardware and operational integration — is now under intense scrutiny.
A pivotal insight from the engagement was Pakistan’s apparent mastery of the “kill chain” — the full cycle from target detection to destruction. This concept, now central to air warfare doctrines worldwide, requires the seamless integration of radars, AEW&C aircraft, fighters, data links, and strike systems.
According to Michael Dahm, Senior Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Pakistan demonstrated an impressive ability to integrate its Chinese-made systems into a coherent and lethal kill chain.
“Pakistan managed to integrate its ground-based radar with fighter jets and airborne early warning aircraft (AEW&C),” Dahm told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “The Pakistan Air Force executed an attack launched by ‘A’, delivered by ‘B’, and guided by ‘C’.”
In Dahm’s reconstruction of events, Pakistan’s ground-based sensors likely detected Indian fighters early. A J-10C then launched a PL-15 from a long distance, while an AEW&C aircraft mid-guided the missile using data links, maintaining contact with the missile and adjusting its flight path toward the Rafale.
This complex coordination mirrors the U.S. military’s CJADC2 (Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control) doctrine, which emphasizes cross-domain, cross-platform targeting flexibility — an area where Pakistan appears to be closing the gap with major Western powers.
While India maintains a numerically superior air force, it faces a key operational challenge: system diversity. The IAF’s fleet is one of the most eclectic in the world — comprising:
- French Dassault Rafale
- Russian Su-30MKI and MiG-29
- Israeli-upgraded Mirage 2000s
- Indigenous HAL Tejas
- British SEPECAT Jaguars
This variety, while reflective of India’s global defence partnerships, also creates interoperability issues. Different aircraft feature incompatible electronic systems, data formats, radars, and communication protocols, complicating efforts to build an integrated, responsive kill chain.
In an era where data-driven warfare decides outcomes, the ability to fuse real-time intelligence across platforms — drones, radars, satellites, and fighters — is vital. Analysts suggest that India’s platform diversity may hinder its ability to develop the seamless command-and-control networks that Pakistan, with its more uniform Chinese-supplied systems, is rapidly evolving.
The India-Pakistan BVR clash has quickly become a case study in fifth-generation warfare without fifth-generation jets. Neither side employed true stealth fighters like the F-35 or J-20, yet the engagement showed that sensor integration, missile range, and tactical data sharing are now the key determinants of air superiority.
Thailand’s Royal Air Force is just one of many watching closely. Several Southeast Asian and Gulf nations — including Malaysia, Indonesia, and the UAE — are reportedly conducting internal reviews to assess how their current force structures would perform under similar BVR-focused scenarios.
Moreover, Western defence manufacturers are likely to feel pressure to accelerate next-generation missile development, such as AIM-260 JATM and Meteor upgrades, to counter the emerging Chinese advantage in long-range aerial weapons.
Perhaps most concerning is the strategic volatility this aerial conflict introduces into an already tense nuclear-armed environment. Both India and Pakistan maintain doctrines of credible minimum deterrence, and both have engaged in tit-for-tat airstrikes before — notably after the Pulwama-Balakot incident in 2019.
But the sheer scale of the May 2025 engagement — involving over 120 combat aircraft and real missile launches — represents a dangerous escalation in conventional warfare that could blur the lines with nuclear posturing.
While both sides claim they did not cross each other’s borders, the willingness to engage in high-risk, long-distance BVR combat marks a new chapter in subcontinental military dynamics. It also sets a troubling precedent for automated, long-range warfare, where human pilots are increasingly reliant on networked machines and AI-assisted targeting.
The May 2025 air battle between India and Pakistan may go down in history as more than just the largest BVR engagement ever recorded. It represents a fundamental shift in how air wars will be fought — fewer dogfights, more sensors; fewer maneuvers, more algorithms; fewer aces, more AI.
Pakistan’s ability to create a functioning, resilient kill chain using primarily Chinese platforms and munitions may also challenge long-held assumptions about the superiority of Western defence ecosystems.
For India, the engagement offers painful but necessary lessons: numerical strength and hardware diversity are no longer sufficient. True air dominance now lies in network cohesion, system integration, and data warfare superiority.
