Steve and TP discuss the implications of the recent air battle between India and Pakistan, which involved over 100 fighter jets and took place entirely beyond visual range (BVR).
Yes, the paradigm has shifted. Where as before this, the long range air to air missiles rarely achieve any kills, the changes in the entire kill chain, and the AESA as well as the dual pulse nature of the PL15 has made this possible. Even if the F-35 is involved, given that
1. The Chinese can still track F-35 via satellite,
2. A more capable AWACS like the KJ-500 can still detect the F-35 at a reasonable range and guide the missile close by.
3. The PL15 will be flying down from very high up looking down. The F-35 was designed to be low observable from far away, not from the top, so PL-15 can still detect the F-35.
I don't know if the outcome will be very different. Maybe the F-35 will have better electronic suits and will be able to detect the PL-15 sooner and take counter-measures against the PL-15, but it may have to deal with multiple of these. Since the AESA is frequency hopping, it will be much harder to jam.
The Indians, clearly, have a job on their hands. Numerous voids require filling.
Prime Minister Modi has declared Operation Sindoor has been paused, not terminated.
The Indians dodged the P15s by attacking almost a dozen air bases with air-to-surface and possibly also surface-to-surface missiles. The Indian military has also obliterated the tunnels leading to Pakistani nuclear stockpiles in the Kinara hills.
India is caught in a very difficult situation. This kind of kill chain is only made by two countries in the world, China and the U.S. From what I read, the Chinese current radar systems are already more advance compared to the U.S. They are using GaN TR module where as most of the U.S. AWACS are still using GaAs. Things are about to get worse. The next generation of Chinese TR modules will be made of Ga2O3 on diamond, which has something like 10x the power throughput to that of GaN. Set aside the geopolitical constraints that India must submit itself to in order to get such a system, If the U.S. supplies this system to India and a war breaks out, the U.S. weapons could lose and along with it, tremendous amount of credibility of the U.S. MIC will be lost. It could even be the end of the U.S. empire. I am sure the Chinese will be very eager to test out their system against that of the U.S. made ones. It is highly unlikely the U.S. will provide such a kill chain to India.
I don’t know anything about this stuff, but *very* fascinating/enjoyable to listen in on!
Yes, the paradigm has shifted. Where as before this, the long range air to air missiles rarely achieve any kills, the changes in the entire kill chain, and the AESA as well as the dual pulse nature of the PL15 has made this possible. Even if the F-35 is involved, given that
1. The Chinese can still track F-35 via satellite,
2. A more capable AWACS like the KJ-500 can still detect the F-35 at a reasonable range and guide the missile close by.
3. The PL15 will be flying down from very high up looking down. The F-35 was designed to be low observable from far away, not from the top, so PL-15 can still detect the F-35.
I don't know if the outcome will be very different. Maybe the F-35 will have better electronic suits and will be able to detect the PL-15 sooner and take counter-measures against the PL-15, but it may have to deal with multiple of these. Since the AESA is frequency hopping, it will be much harder to jam.
The Indians, clearly, have a job on their hands. Numerous voids require filling.
Prime Minister Modi has declared Operation Sindoor has been paused, not terminated.
The Indians dodged the P15s by attacking almost a dozen air bases with air-to-surface and possibly also surface-to-surface missiles. The Indian military has also obliterated the tunnels leading to Pakistani nuclear stockpiles in the Kinara hills.
India is caught in a very difficult situation. This kind of kill chain is only made by two countries in the world, China and the U.S. From what I read, the Chinese current radar systems are already more advance compared to the U.S. They are using GaN TR module where as most of the U.S. AWACS are still using GaAs. Things are about to get worse. The next generation of Chinese TR modules will be made of Ga2O3 on diamond, which has something like 10x the power throughput to that of GaN. Set aside the geopolitical constraints that India must submit itself to in order to get such a system, If the U.S. supplies this system to India and a war breaks out, the U.S. weapons could lose and along with it, tremendous amount of credibility of the U.S. MIC will be lost. It could even be the end of the U.S. empire. I am sure the Chinese will be very eager to test out their system against that of the U.S. made ones. It is highly unlikely the U.S. will provide such a kill chain to India.