Pakistan PAF's Homegrown Link-17

Pakistan's Homegrown Link-17 ‘Kill Chain’ Helped Shoot down India's Rafale Fighter Jets

 By Riaz Haq
CA

 

Using a homegrown datalink (Link-17) communication system, Pakistan has integrated its ground radars with a variety of fighter jets and airborne early warning aircraft (Swedish Erieye AWACS) to achieve high level of situational awareness in the battlefield, according to experts familiar with the technology developed and deployed by the Pakistan Air Force.

This integration allows quick execution of a " kill chain " to target and destroy enemy aircraft, according to experts. This capability was demonstrated recently in the India-Pakistan aerial battle of May 7-8 that resulted in the downing of several Indian fighter jets, including the French-made Rafale.  

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilots flying Chinese-made J10C fighter jets fired the Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles and shot down at least two Indian Air Force's French-made Rafale jets in history's largest ever  aerial battle , according to multiple media and intelligence reports. India had 72 warplanes on the attack and Pakistan responded with 42 of its own, according to the Pakistani military. 

Speaking on a recent podcast, Michael Dahm, a senior fellow at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said the kill chain may have started with a Pakistani ground radar — “maybe a surface-to-air missile system, or some other type of radar system” — which “illuminated the Indian target.” Then, a Pakistani J-10C fighter “launched its missiles, probably at range, and finally, an airborne early warning and control aircraft used a midcourse datalink to update and guide the missile to the Indian fighter.”   “The Pakistani Air Force deployed …’ A’ launched by ‘B’ and guided by ‘C’” and hit the target, he added. 

PAF Kill Chain during Op Sindoor - Source: Blackbird

Link-17 enables secure and jam-resistant voice and data exchanges between connected assets. Combined with electronic warfare, it allows the Pakistani military to control the electromagnetic spectrum, giving access to the enemy communications and denying them access to their own.  It also enables networked participants to view in real-time each other’s sensor feeds, which could come from radars, sonars, electro-optical (EO) systems such as cameras, and others.  Link-17  has given the PAF a network protocol that it can use with a wide range of aerial assets, especially domestically driven programs, such as the JF-17 Thunder. 

Military aviation analysts conclude from the results of the air battle that the  Chinese technology  is as good, if not better, than the Western technology. However, it must be understood that the way the technology is actually deployed in the battlefield is as important in achieving good results as the technology itself. Also, the men count as much, if not more than, the machines. 

The legendary US Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager called Pakistan Air Force pilots "the best in the world".  In another  tweet  in 2015, Yeager said "they (PAF pilots) kicked the Indians butt". 

(Riaz Haq is a Silicon Valley-based Pakistani-American analyst and writer. He blogs at  www.riazhaq.com)