Pakistan likely used NATO-Style aerial tactics taught by China during Operation Sindoor
New Delhi: During India’s Operation Sindoor, particularly on 7 May, Pakistan is believed to have deployed NATO-style aerial combat tactics taught by China, tactics originally developed by Western air forces. This revelation, reported by ThePrint, has raised serious concerns among Indian defence planners and Western security establishments.
According to ThePrint, one of the key tactics observed was the "launch-and-leave" strategy, commonly used in NATO air forces. In this method, one aircraft fires a missile and disengages immediately to avoid enemy detection, while a second aircraft with superior radar capability guides the missile to its target. This coordinated tactic allows forces to strike at long range even in environments dense with air defence systems.
Defence sources told ThePrint that these tactics were likely executed using Chinese-supplied J-10CE fighter jets and the Saab 2000-based Erieye Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) systems currently in Pakistan Air Force service. The sources added that China has trained Pakistani pilots in these advanced techniques.
What’s more alarming, ThePrint reported, is how China acquired these capabilities. Over the past decade, Beijing has clandestinely recruited former military pilots and air operations experts from NATO countries, particularly from the Five Eyes alliance (the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), to train the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
In 2022, the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed that nearly 30 ex-British military pilots were being lured with lucrative contracts to pass on their expertise to China. A 2023 Der Spiegel report further revealed that former Luftwaffe pilots had also been training PLAAF personnel, with some possibly simulating combat scenarios involving Taiwan.
In 2024, a joint intelligence bulletin by the United States and its Five Eyes partners warned that the PLA was using private intermediaries in South Africa and China to hire former Western military personnel. These recruits include fighter pilots, flight engineers, and command center staff, all targeted for their deep knowledge of Western air combat doctrine and planning methods.
“The PLA wants the skills and expertise of these individuals to make its own military air operations more capable while gaining insight into Western air tactics,” the bulletin said. “This knowledge directly threatens the security of the US, its allies, and their armed forces.”
ThePrint notes that the resurgent threat lies not only in China's ability to modernize its own military but in its successful export of sophisticated air combat strategies to Pakistan. This transfer of tactical knowledge could significantly shift the aerial balance in South Asia and complicate India’s operational preparedness on its western front.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
