Pakistan faced huge embarrassment after the locally manufactured and Chinese-supplied military equipment failed badly to counter Indian missiles and drones as well as to hit the targets inside India during the armed conflict between the Asian rivals last year. Pakistan appeared helpless as Indian missiles hit its areas with precision while its missiles could not reach across the border. These failures raised questions over the quality, efficiency, and reliability of Chinese weapons and other defence equipment Pakistan procured.
Soon after the role of Pakistan-based terror outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) in the Pahalgam attack was confirmed, it was evident that India would take military action against Pakistan. On May 7, 2025, Indian warplanes conducted airstrikes deep inside Pakistan, destroying the launch pads, training camps, and logistical hubs linked to the terror ecosystem. While India made calibrated attack under the Operation Sindoor, leaving military installations untouched, it expected a counterstrike from Pakistan.
The response from Pakistan translated into drone and missile raids in Indian areas of Jammu, Pathankot, and Udhampur. But they failed to hit the targets as Indian defence systems neutralised them mid-air effectively, leaving no damage on the ground. Pakistan launched Fatah-II missiles to destroy storage facilities and airbases in India. But it did not yield any result as nothing was known about its fate.
Similarly, Chinese CM-400AKG missiles that were launched along with Fatah and Hatf rocket fire failed to penetrate Indian defence system. However, the next round of attack by India caused significant damages to Pakistan’s air defence system as military drones hit radars at multiple locations. India succeeded in bypassing and jamming Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air-defence systems, leaving military and other strategically important assets vulnerable to further attacks.
While Pakistan continued to reject the claims of destruction, the satellite images and videos shared by local people vindicated India’s stand. Satellite images shared by American daily ‘Washington Post’ showed damaged hangars, runways and military buildings.
Chinese long-range air defence system HQ-9 had failed miserably. It could not stop Indian missiles and drones effectively, leaving Pakistani assets vulnerable. It failed to detect, track, or intercept many strikes launched by Indian warplanes and drones, allowing BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, SCALP-EG cruise missiles and other munitions to hit Pakistani airbases at Nur Khan, Sargodha, Jacobabad, and Bholari.
There was no or minimal interception by HQ-9. Interestingly, China marketed HQ-9 as equivalent of S-300, a Russian-made, long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. Similarly, Chinese HQ-16 (LY-80), a mid-range defence system, failed miserably against the Indian missiles in a low-altitude, high-speed threats environment. As it exposed Pakistani airspace, Indian missiles penetrated the defence and hit military and terror infrastructure across Pakistan with a precision rate of 20 percent.
HQ-9B, which is the upgraded version of HQ-9 and marketed as equivalent of Russian S-400 system, was procured by Iran from China. However, HQ-9B too failed to intercept American and Israeli missile, picking holes into China’s most advanced long-range air defence systems. It revived the memories of Indo-Pakistan armed conflict as HQ-9B performed poorly like HQ-9 by struggling to defend against precision attacks.
The 2025 Operation Sindoor was a brief conflict but it ended up exposing the vulnerabilities Pakistan’s defence system, which was heavily supported by China. Pakistan used Chinese combat aircraft Chengdu J-10C which launched PL-15 missiles to target Indian assets. However, the air-to-air PL-15 missiles failed to hit the targets, making Pakistani strikes feeble and ineffective. The debris of unexploded PL-15 missiles was found in India, which served as evidence of the failure of the missiles.
PL-15 missiles apparently malfunctioned due to electronic countermeasures undertaken by the Indian side. These Chinese missiles were intercepted or neutralised by Indian indigenous Akashteer air defence system. Those unexploded or failed PL-15 missile could not self-destruct, thus allowing Indian intelligence to get valuable and clandestine information about Pakistani strikes. Chinese-made Wing Loong II and CH-4 drones too struggled to hit the targets inside India as the Akashteer system successfully engaged and shot them down.
The armed conflict lasted for a few days but Pakistan and China faced a significant setback and embarrassment, thanks to the failure of the defence system in absorbing or penetrating attacks from the Indian side. The attack front too appeared weak and vulnerable as Pakistani and Chinese missiles missed the target as they malfunctioned or became easy targets of Indian defence system, or just fell down unexploded.
