Following the Pahalgam terror attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists, tensions between India and Pakistan rapidly escalated. In response, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to target the terror infrastructure inside Pakistan. After being stunned by India’s attack, Pakistan tried to send hundreds of drones and missiles into India, but failed to make any impact when faced with India’s Air Defence Systems. Eventually, a ceasefire was agreed upon after India hit 11 Pakistani air bases, including their key base in Rawalpindi.
One of the most glaringly visible outcomes of the short conflict was, the gulf between the quality of weapons being used by the two countries. While India could thwart the drone attacks by Pakistani through a combination of its indigenous weapons and S-400 bought from Russia, Pakistan’s China manufactured systems proved to be a dud as Indian drones and missiles entered Pakistan at will and hit their targets.
Notably, Pakistan is almost completely reliant on China for arms and ammunitions, with over 80% of Pakistan’s defence procurement being from China over the last 5 years. For China as well, Pakistan is the key customer, with over 60% of China’s defence exports being to Pakistan.
Most of the major Chinese defence systems have not been battle tested. WHile they have taken part in several defence exercises, Chinese systems have never been tested in active combat. This was the first time when most of these systems were getting tested in a hot zone, and when faced with Indian technology and weapons, Chinese systems ended up being decisively second best.
The embarrassment for China started right on the day when India launched Operation Sindoor as HQ-9B, marketed as a Patriot equivalent, and the HQ-16, failed to intercept Indian SCALP stealth cruise missiles and HAMMER glide bombs. Notably, Pakistan’s airspace was supposedly guarded by the HQ-9 and LY-80 (HQ-16) air defence systems—Chinese-made platforms often paraded by Islamabad as state-of-the-art solutions against aerial threats. The HQ-9, modeled after Russia’s S-300, is marketed as capable of detecting and neutralizing threats mid-air. Yet, during Operation Sindoor, these systems neither saw the missiles coming nor reacted when they did.
India’s use of advanced electronic warfare techniques—including decoys, signal suppression, and radar jamming—turned Pakistan’s air defence grid into a sitting duck. In the seconds it took for Indian missiles to obliterate high-value terrorist targets in Bahawalpur, Muridke, Muzaffarabad, and Kotli, Pakistan’s multi-billion-dollar missile shield stood frozen—useless, blind, and humiliated.
The difference in the quality of Air Defence Systems of the two countries during Operation Sindoor was as wide as the Grand Canyon. While India used indigenous Akashteer Air Defence system, MRSAM, UAS, L-70 Anti aircraft guns along with S-400, Pakistan was totally reliant on the Chinese systems which totally betrayed them in combat. Notably, Pakistan is totally reliant on China for all its defence needs, and China keeps supplying Pakistan untested and even outdated technology, and Pakistan keeps buying it as they have no other option.
Pakistani Air Force is also heavily reliant on China with JF-17 and J10-C among their most advanced planes. Both the aircrafts were used during the conflict with India along with the American F-16s. However, even the Chinese fighter jets proved to be ineffective when it came to stopping Indian attack. India hit air bases all across Pakistan at will while their Air Force kept scrambling. Even when they tried to attack Indian territory, every attack was easily thwarted by Indian technology.
For drones, Pakistan trusted its other friend Turkey, not that the outcome was any different. Indian Air Defence Systems successfully brought down the hundreds of drones launched by Pakistan towards India.
India and Pakistan may have reached a ceasefire but the biggest loser in the conflict turned out to be China. It totally exposed Chinese defence technology and showed that the dragon isn’t all that it has been hyped up to be. Operation Sindoor has delivered a resounding blow to the credibility of Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems and, by extension, to Beijing’s claims of military superiority.
China even tried to promote Pakistan’s fake news that it has shot down 5 Indian jets using Chinese fighter planes. Alas, that fake news fizzled out soon as nobody could find any such plane that has been shot down by Pakistan.
Chinese economic heft is undeniable, but from the evidence seen, looks like their military technology has a long way to go before it can be considered among the best in the world. However, unfortunately for Pakistan, with no domestic defence industry, they have to make do with this Chinese technology for now.
