The recent sparks of war between India and Pakistan, apart from the long-standing Kashmir issue, have brought renewed attention to Chinese weapons, French Rafale jets and the rivalry between the duo.
While Pakistan has said to have downed three French Rafale jets belonging to India, claims about the initial attack and the aftermath have differed widely, with neither New Delhi nor Islamabad releasing many specific details.
Yet, media coverage and social media were equally flooded by comparisons of military capacities of the two nuclear-armed neighbors, showcasing details on total defense budget, active military personnel, tanks, combat aircraft and more.
Hours after India's attack early Wednesday last week, following last month's deaths of 26 people in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan's military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif, said the Pakistan Air Force had shot down five Indian attack aircraft: three French-made Rafales, a Russian-made SU30MKI and a Russian-made MiG-29.
While India initially did not respond to the claims, the Indian Air Force acknowledged Sunday that it suffered combat losses against Pakistan during last week's clashes.
Responding to a question, it said that "losses are a part of combat" without giving details, but claimed that all its pilots were back home.
Also on Wednesday, four government sources in Indian-ruled Kashmir told Reuters that three fighter jets crashed in the federal territory, hours after India said it struck nine Pakistani "terrorist infrastructure" sites across the border.
The loss was also reported by two U.S. officials, who said that the Chinese-made Pakistani J-10 fighter plane shot down at least two French-made Indian military aircraft, including a Rafale, on Wednesday.
This has prompted reassessment of Chinese technology and defense capabilities, placing its J-10Cs fighter aircraft at the center of debate – directly assessing its standing against Rafale jets, produced by French company Dassault Aviation – which are considered one of the most advanced and capable warplanes in the world.
Both the J-10C and Rafale are considered 4.5 generation aircraft, yet the French aircraft, with its twin-engine, air-to-air and reconnaissance capabilities added in its standard F3 release, has long been seen among the most successful warplanes internationally. Countries like Serbia, Croatia, Egypt, Qatar and India have selected it for purchase, and just as the latest conflict between Pakistan and India was unfolding, New Delhi announced it has signed a contract to buy 26 of the jets from France, in addition to the 36 it had already acquired in recent years.
A European military source considered it "highly unlikely" that three Rafales were destroyed in recent air combat but said it is "credible" that one may have been.
This gave a major boost not only to Chinese but in general Asian defense makers last week as it marked a major milestone for Beijing's advanced fighter jets and provided a peek into their possible performance against a Western rival. On the contrary, shares of Dassault suffered a short blow as it dropped sharply last Wednesday on the Paris Stock Exchange, though it had recovered by close on Thursday.
The use of J-10Cs by Pakistan would mark the first time the Chinese planes (added only to the Chinese and Pakistani militaries) would have been used in combat anywhere in the world, giving military analysts a rare glimpse of their capabilities.
The J-10C or "Chengdu J-10" is a medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft using a delta wing and canard design. It is produced by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF).
Meanwhile, social media posts also focused on the performance of China's PL-15 air-to-air missile against the Meteor, a radar-guided air-to-air missile produced by the European group MBDA. There has been no official confirmation that these weapons were used.
Reuters recently published a report titled "Global militaries to study India-Pakistan fighter jet battle," detailing the significance of delving into the reported grandiose "dogfight" between Chinese-made Pakistani jets and French-made Rafale fighters.
"Air warfare communities in China, the U.S. and a number of European countries will be extremely interested to try and get as much ground truth as they can on tactics, techniques, procedures, what kit was used, what worked and what didn't," said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"You have arguably China's most capable weapon against the West's most capable weapon, if indeed it was being carried; we don't know that," Barrie said.
The French and Americans would likely be hoping for similar intelligence from India, Barrie said.
Western analysts and industry sources, however, said crucial details remained unclear, including whether the Meteor was carried and the type and amount of training the pilots had received. Arms firms would also be anxious to separate technical performance from operational factors, analysts said.
"There will be audits of what works and what doesn't work, but I think the other overlay is the proverbial fog of war," said Byron Callan, a Washington-based defense expert and managing partner of Capital Alpha Partners.
U.S. arms companies are getting constant feedback about how their products are working in the war in Ukraine, he said.
"So I absolutely expect the same to be the case with India's European suppliers, and Pakistan and China are probably sharing the same feedback. If the PL-15 is working as advertised or better than expected, the Chinese would like to hear that."
China enjoys close cooperation with Pakistan and is one of its major defense suppliers.
The clip of a Pakistani army official quipping during news conference how "Rafale is a very potent aircraft ... if employed well," quickly spread on social media, with users hailing a "David versus Goliath victory" of their military, which has far less funding, manpower and equipment than the armed forces of India.
"Young Pakistanis used the memes culture, using Indian misinformation as a joke and humor," with India in response blocking dozens of accounts belonging to Pakistani public figures on X and YouTube, said digital rights activist Nighat Dad.
Under the guise of humor, these memes became a way to spread opinions, information and support, she added.
Both sides, however, were accused of online disinformation during the recent clashes.
"The crisis bolstered the (Pakistani) army," said researcher Michael Kugelman.
