Killer weapons battle-tested, India-Pakistan mini-war will shape future wars
Lethal weapons — ranging from missiles to fighter jets to drones, and air defence systems — from multiple countries that saw trials for years witnessed battle-testing in the India-Pakistan mini-war. Over half a dozen Indian and Chinese weapons were war-tested for the first time. As the world's arms manufacturers and strategic experts take note of the limited India-Pakistan war, here's why it will shape all wars to come.
MILITARY HARDWARE BATTLE-TESTED FOR THE FIRST TIME
The 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.
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
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.
