Killer weapons battle-tested, India-Pakistan mini-war will shape future wars

India Today

18-05-2025

It was in 1979 that China fought its last major war. Two lakh PLA soldiers pushed through dense jungles of north Vietnam flanked by Chinese versions of Soviet T-55A tanks. Forty-six years later, in May 2025, although Beijing was not at war, its military arsenal was put to war test. And the battle-testing ground was Pakistan during its mini-war with India. Not just Chinese weapons, several Indian indigenous military hardware were battle-tested for the first time in Test Range Pakistan. French, Israeli, Turkish, Russian and even Pakistani war machines were battle-tested too.advertisementWith the range of weapons used, and many of them for the first time, the armed conflict between India and Pakistan must have been taken note of by arms manufacturers and defence strategists from across the world. The US and the victims of Chinese expansionist aggression would be studying the war's minutest details."Conflicts see weapons finally being used. They allow arms companies to study the efficacy of their weapons in the field, improve them and sell modifications," says Sandeep Unnithan, senior defence correspondent and expert. "Every major global arms exporter will study the air, missile and drone battles between India and Pakistan."
With lessons being drawn, it is believed that the mini-war between India and Pakistan will have a bearing on any war that is fought in the future. For one, the conflict saw the full use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, and loitering munitions.advertisementAnother takeaway from this war is that countries don't need to send bombers into enemy territory as long-range weapons from fighter jets ensure that enemy kills are made from hundreds of kilometres away.That was displayed by India with its Sukhoi Su-30MKI and BrahMos missile combo hitting strategically significant targets deep inside Pakistan.
The BrahMos-A is an air-launched, modified version of the missile with a 500 km range, capable of being fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI as a standoff strike weapon. (Image: X/DefenceMinIndia)
MILITARY HARDWARE BATTLE-TESTED FOR THE FIRST TIMEThe Indo-Pak limited war was "definitely revealing", says Colonel John Spencer (Retired), a US Army veteran and defence analyst. He calls war "the ultimate test"."Throughout history, conflicts have been proving grounds for military technology," says Unnithan.Take, for example, India's BrahMos missiles that were likely used in the India-Pakistan mini-war.The BrahMos programme, for which an agreement was signed between India and Russia in 1998, saw the first missile being tested in 2001. Since then, the BrahMos Aerospace programme has developed three variants of the supersonic cruise missile, but it is only 25 years later that it was battle-tested.advertisementIt was during the India-Pakistan war in 2025 that the India-made BrahMos missiles were tested in war conditions for the first time. The result was a super success.Not just BrahMos missiles, other India-made military hardware like the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet and the SkyStriker drones were also tested in war conditions for the first time."A whole range of weapon systems, both offensive and defensive, were battle-tested in this short conflict. Some were indigenous, while some were procured from our strategic partners," says Colonel Rajeev Agarwal (Retired), Senior Research Consultant, CRF.In fact, France's Rafale and Hammer glide bombs were used for the first time in a country-to-country, air-to-ground mission."The 4.5 generation Rafale fighter aircraft proved their worth in the first conflict for India. When they teamed up with the deadly Scalp and Hammer missiles, they were too hot for Pakistani defences to handle," Agarwal tells India Today Digital.China's missiles -- HQ9, HQ16 and PL-15 -- and fighter jets -- J-10 and JF-17 -- also faced battle tests for the first time, as did the Chinese air defence (AD) system.
The JF-17 Thunder was jointly developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation of China. However, the single-engine fighter jet is not used by the People's Liberation Army Air Force. (Image: AFP)
advertisementPAKISTAN A FIRING RANGE FOR WEAPONS FROM ACROSS THE WORLDThe use of Indian, Israeli, French, Turkish and Chinese systems marks a big shift from the Cold War-era US-Soviet hegemony of the weapons industry.Although the Sukhoi Su-30MKI is of Russian origin, it is completely assembled in India with an engine from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).Pakistan reportedly used American F-16 jets, but the Chinese fighters, like the J-10 and JF-17, were PAF's mainstay.With its Asisguard Songar, Bayraktar TB2 and YIHA drones, Pakistan's "iron brother" Turkey actively enabled Islamabad's offensive against India.Pakistanis also used their indigenous Fatah-1 rocket and Fatah-2 tactical ballistic missiles for the first time during the war with India.The French-made Rafale, which has a long order book, was used in a war for the first time. French Scalp missiles and Israeli Harop loitering munitions were also battle-tested yet again.advertisementThe Barak-8 surface-to-air missile, jointly produced by Israel and India, was also put to use. It is reported that it was a Barak missile that intercepted Pakistan's Fatah-2 ballistic missile over Sirsa.
Pakistan used the Asisguard Songar (Top Left), Bayraktar TB2 (Top Right), and YIHA (Bottom), three UAVs of Turkish origin, against India during recent armed confrontations. Ankara reportedly also sent military personnel to Pakistan during the mini-war. (Images: Getty/Asisguard/Social Media)
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BATTLE-TESTING OF WEAPONSThis unprecedented exchange between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries, which began on May 7 with Operation Sindoor, saw the use of a wide range of weapons from manufacturers from across the world."Two countries will study this conflict more closely than most — China and the United States. China for obvious reasons —Beijing is Pakistan's top weapons exporter. Chinese jets, long-range air-to-air missiles, radars and surface-to-air missiles were used in large numbers in the short conflict," Unnithan tells India Today Digital."The efficacy of these Chinese weapons is debatable. But what is without doubt is that this short, intense border exchange is the 21st century's largest use of advanced Chinese weaponry. From J-10 and JF-17 fighter jets to HQ-9 air defence missiles, all of them used by Pakistan," he adds.advertisementAs keenly as China, it will be Donald Trump's US, which considers Beijing its biggest rival and military adversary in the rejigged bipolar world, that will closely study this conflict.
The Indian armed forces showed the debris of a likely PL-15 air-to-air missile, which is of Chinese origin and was used by Pakistan during the attack on India. (Image: ANI)
"These Chinese weapons will be thrown at the US Air Force, Navy and Marines in any future war with China in Asia, especially one around Taiwan," explains Unnithan.Though every battlefield will have its own dynamics, lessons and weapons from this war will have a bearing on the wars to come."The US will, for starters, want to look at the wreckage of a Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missile found in Punjab. It will want to understand the dynamics of the air battles between the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) and also the IAF's precision strikes on Pakistani airbases and radar installations," he adds.As the fog of war lifts, a clear verdict is emerging on the success and failure of these weapons from multiple countries from an actual battle.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), as part of Operation Sindoor, targeted at least six military and aviation sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). These included Pakistan Air Force bases at Rafiqui, Murid, Nur Khan, Chunian, Rahim Yar Khan, and Sukkur. The dotted line in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir represents the Line of Control (LoC). The territory to its west is Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Occupied Jammu and Gilgit-Baltistan, which are integral parts of India. (Image: India Today/OSINT)
RESULT OF FIRST BATTLE-TESTING: SUCCESS AND FAILURE"Indian weapons not only crossed the international border but also demonstrated accuracy against defended sites," wrote Joshua T White, foreign policy expert, for the Brookings Institute, a US think tank.Colonel Agarwal (retd) said the Brahmos proved its worth in the short India-Pakistan conflict, and with its unique features like supersonic speeds, stealth, and accuracy, many countries are likely to line up for it.Regarding the Chinese PL-15, there are doubts, says the Army veteran. "Its reliability has been tested in this conflict, and it has been found wanting.""China, without fighting this war, has lost on many counts because its weapons platforms have failed more than once," says Agarwal.American Army veteran Colonel Spencer also said that India's war machines proved their mettle."India demonstrated that its investments, mostly in indigenous products along with some others, were the right ones. Pakistan, backed mainly by Chinese and some Turkish capabilities, showed that their arsenal wasn't as effective as they believed," Spencer told India Today TV.Sandeep Unnithan said that the failure of the Chinese air defence (AD) system was one of the key revelations of this war."Chinese AD systems had one job, to protect Pakistan's air space from fighter aircraft and air-to-ground missiles - they failed miserably," he tells India Today Digital."This operation will have catastrophic consequences for Chinese AD systems -- the US Air Force and US Navy will study the IAF's air campaign precisely because this is the conflict they will face over Taiwan -- should it become a shooting war," Unnithan adds.INDO-PAK WAR: A BATTLE OF DRONES, LOITERING MUNITIONSIn the Brookings article, White says, the most consequential military development of the India-Pakistan armed conflict was the widespread use of drones and loitering munitions."For the first time, India and Pakistan fought what looked like a mutual drone war, with probing missions, strikes, interceptions, and spoofing attacks occurring almost continuously," he wrote.This wasn't unexpected going by the Russia-Ukraine war and the Nagorno-Karabakh war.The indigenous Nagastra-1 loitering munition and the SkyStriker kamikaze drones made their combat debut during Operation Sindoor.
Nagastra-1 (L) is an indigenously developed loitering munition by Solar Industries India in collaboration with Z-Motion, designed for precision strikes with a 30-minute endurance and equipped with GPS-based navigation. SkyStriker is an Israeli-origin kamikaze drone developed in collaboration with Bengaluru-headquartered Alpha Design Technologies. It's capable of autonomous target engagement with a loitering time of up to two hours and a strike range of over 100 km. (Images: ANI/Elbit Systems)
BEARING OF THE INDIA-PAKISTAN WAR ON FUTURE WARSThat UAVs, drones and loitering munitions will play a key role in future wars is a given. The potency of these drones will only increase, and counter-drone technology will evolve accordingly.The limited India-Pakistan war not only saw new weapons being battle-tested, but their real-life performance. How they fared will be examined not just by the US, but also the countries in South East Asia, like the Philippines and Vietnam, which have territorial disputes with an expansionist China.With tensions in Taiwan and the South China Sea (SCS), countries threatened by China would be looking very closely into how the Indian war machines stacked up against the China-made ones."The Philippines has already bought BrahMos while Vietnam is likely to seal the deal shortly. I foresee huge demand for the Brahmos missile in the global arms market soon," said Aggarwal.Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Argentina are among the countries that have evinced interest in the BrahMos missile platform."With the Next Generation BrahMos likely to be fielded in the next 12–18 months with many more advanced features like increased range, speed, and lethality, which could make it the most sought-after cruise missile system in the world," said Colonel Agarwal.The Sukhoi Su30MKI and the Brahmos missile combo also show that countries don't need to cross into another's territory to land devastating blows."The Sukhoi MKI and Brahmos cruise missile combo is a unique Indian solution to offset the lack of a bomber carrying precision-guided missiles (PGMs). This deadly force-multiplier broke through Pakistan's China-supplied air defence bubbles -- devastating its airfields and allied infrastructure in punitive air strikes on May 10," explains Unnithan. The defence expert said that this lethal combo will be watched by several rivals of China around the SCS, one of the potential theatres of war."Many of these SCS littoral states, like Vietnam and the Philippines, have bought Indian military hardware, including surface-launched BrahMos, and could be potential customers of the air-launched variants," he adds.What makes this limited war interesting is the fact that Pakistan behaved like a Chinese suzerain state, fighting with China-made ammo. The results of the field study of the India-Pakistan war are out there for everyone to see and analyse.What's noteworthy here is that nothing reveals a changed world than the battlefield, the steel used and the smouldering remains.China has come a long way since it used the Chinese version of Soviet tanks in the Sino-Vietnam War of 1979. From being dependent on Soviet weapons, Beijing has become a military power, by investing big on defence research and production. Russia, the inheritor of the Soviet Union, is now a few notches below it. India, meanwhile, has collaborated and developed killer war machines that went unchallenged in Testing Range Pakistan. France, Turkey and Israel have emerged as notable defence exporters. The India-Pakistan mini-war provides a report card of all these weapons, and offers a glimpse into how future wars might really be fought.GLOSSARY: WHAT IS S-400, SKYSTRIKER, BARAK, PL-15 AND HQ-9Loitering munition: A drone or missile that loiters in the air over an area and destroys itself by crashing into a target once it is identified. Because they self-kill themselves, loitering munitions are also called suicide drones.Kamikaze drone: Like Japan's WW II kamikaze pilots, who would crash into their targets with the sole aim of destroying them, these drones do not return after launch. Like loitering munitions, these drones crash directly into a target and destroy it.SkyStriker: These are loitering munitions developed by Israeli firm Elbit Systems and manufactured in India by Adani Defence under a joint venture. They can hover over a target area for up to 2 hours and strike with precision, suitable for for high-value target elimination.Akash Missile: It's India's indigenously developed surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept aerial threats like fighter jets, cruise missiles, and drones. It has a range of about 25-30 km and is deployed by both the Indian Army and the Air Force.
India's Akash surface-to-air missile system is an indigenous air defence platform. Armenia has procured 15 units of the Akash-1S variant to enhance its aerial defence capabilities. (Image: Ministry of Defence)
Akashteer: It is a command and control system developed by the Bengaluru-based BEL to integrate various air defence components, enabling real-time monitoring and response to aerial threats. It helps automate air defence operations across Indian Army formations.S-400 Triumf: It's Russia's advanced air defence system, which was acquired by India. Nicknamed the Sudarshan Chakra, the air defence system played a key role in India's Operation Sindoor. It can destroy aircraft, drones, and missiles up to a range of 400 kilometres.Barak Missile: The Barak missile is an Israeli-developed family of surface-to-air missiles used for naval and land-based air defence, developed by IAI and Rafael. The Barak-8, jointly developed by Israel and India, can intercept multiple aerial threats including aircraft, missiles, and drones with high precision.
The Barak 8 was jointly developed by India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). (Image: MyGov)
J-10: It's a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft developed by China. It has been inducted into the Pakistan Air Force.JF-17 Thunder: It's a fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China. It is lightweight, cost-effective, and primarily designed for export. China, by the way, does not use it.Ballistic Missile: A missile that travels in a high arc, exiting the Earth's atmosphere and re-entering to strike its target using gravity. Prime examples of ballistic missiles are India's Agni, and Pakistan's Shaheen.Cruise Missile: These missiles fly at low altitudes like a smart aircraft. They are mostly GPS-guided and highly accurate. India's BrahMos is a prime example.T-55A tanks: The Cold War-era key Soviet battle tank from the 1960s and 1970s, known for its rugged design, was used by several allies and partners of the USSR.Tune InMust Watch