(By Khalid Masood)
The May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, triggered by the tragic Pahalgam militant attack on April 22, escalated rapidly into a multi-domain war where electronic warfare (EW) emerged as a decisive factor. Pakistan’s Armed Forces demonstrated unparalleled prowess in disrupting Indian military operations, exposing glaring vulnerabilities in India’s advanced systems and turning the electromagnetic spectrum into a battlefield where Pakistan clearly held the upper hand.
The Context: From Terror Attack to Kinetic and Electronic Warfare
Following India’s Operation Sindoor- missile strikes targeting so-called militant camps inside Pakistan-and Pakistan’s retaliatory Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, the conflict spanned from May 7 to May 11, 2025, culminating in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. While kinetic strikes and aerial dogfights captured headlines, it was Pakistan’s electronic warfare capabilities that silently but effectively crippled India’s situational awareness, command and control, and precision targeting.
Unrivaled Electronic Warfare Capabilities
Pakistan’s EW arsenal, heavily integrated with cutting-edge Chinese technology, proved superior in both strategic deployment and tactical execution. Key systems included:
- J-10C Fighters with KG300G/KG600 EW Suites: These aircraft employed advanced digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jamming techniques to manipulate Indian radar signals, creating false targets and blinding enemy sensors.
- DWL-002 Passive Detection System: A sophisticated Chinese passive radar system that enhanced Pakistan’s ability to detect and track Indian aircraft and missiles by their electronic emissions without revealing its own position.
- Commercial-Grade GPS Jammers: These devices effectively disrupted Indian drones and precision-guided munitions, undermining their navigation and targeting accuracy.
Pakistan’s EW units successfully jammed Indian communications and radar networks, severely impairing the enemy’s situational awareness and response coordination. The inability of India’s much-touted, Russian made, S-400 air defence system, stationed at Udhampur with a claimed 400 km range, to down even a single Pakistani jet despite dozens being simultaneously airborne, starkly illustrated Pakistan’s electronic dominance.
Tactical Mastery: Soft-Kills and Intelligence Exploitation
Pakistan’s EW was not limited to jamming; it extended into “soft-kill” operations that neutralized Indian loitering munitions and drones without kinetic engagement. The Pakistan Air Force publicly demonstrated intercepted Indian Rafale radio communications during a military press conference, showcasing its signals intelligence superiority. In addition, a “misdirected” BrahMos missile track was replayed, indicating successful electronic deception against one of India’s most advanced cruise missiles.
These operations were reminiscent of Pakistan’s 2019 success when electronic jamming blinded Indian pilots, leading to the downing of Indian jets and the capture of an Indian pilot Wing Commander Abinandan. The continuity of Pakistan’s EW superiority over multiple conflicts confirms a strategic edge that India has yet to overcome.
Impact on Indian Military Operations
The disruption of Indian aircraft operations, particularly Rafale fighters equipped with the cutting edge Spectra EW suite, was profound. The jamming of their sensors and communications contributed to seven Indian aircraft losses, which India neither fully confirmed nor denied, opting instead for ambiguous statements that “losses are part of combat.”
Pakistan’s EW also protected its own assets by disrupting Indian precision-guided munitions and forcing relocation of key platforms like Rafale to eastern side to evade detection and targeting. Counter-drone operations neutralized dozens of Indian drones, including the Polish-made Warmate loitering munitions, further degrading India’s offensive capabilities.
The misdirection of BrahMos missiles is big achievement, shown by Air Marshal Aurangzeb to International media, aligns with Pakistan’s demonstrated EW capabilities and cannot be dismissed outright.
Indian Claims and Controversies
While India claimed to have jammed Pakistani defences and enabled successful strikes, these assertions were largely disputed by Pakistan and independent observers. Fact-checking units debunked exaggerated claims such as crippling Pakistan’s power grid.
Comparative Electronic Warfare Landscape
| Aspect | Pakistan’s EW Capabilities | India’s EW Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Key Systems | J-10C with KG300G/KG600 jammers, DWL-002, GPS jammers | Samyukta (145 vehicles), Himshakti, Spectra on Rafale |
| Primary Tactics | Jamming communications and radar, soft-kills on drones, intercepting communications | Jamming Pakistani air defences, protecting own systems |
| Operational Successes | Disrupted Rafale sensors, neutralized drones, intercepted communications | Claimed partial success, but faced 7 aircraft losses and numerous Heron drone losses |
| Battlefield Impact | Severely impaired Indian situational awareness and response | Limited effectiveness, with operational setbacks |
This asymmetry underscores Pakistan’s tactical advantage in the electromagnetic domain, a critical factor in modern warfare.
Strategic and Regional Implications
Pakistan’s mastery of electronic warfare during the 2025 conflict highlights the evolving nature of warfare in South Asia, where dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum can decisively influence kinetic outcomes. The demonstrated superiority raises serious questions about India’s preparedness and exposes vulnerabilities in its multi-platform coordination.
Pakistan’s reliance on advanced Chinese EW technology has paid dividends, enhancing its defensive and offensive capabilities. This technological edge, combined with skilled tactical application, reinforces Pakistan’s position as a formidable military power capable of defending its sovereignty and deterring aggression.
Conclusion: Pakistan’s Electronic Warfare Supremacy is Undeniable
The May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict has firmly established Pakistan’s dominance in electronic warfare. By crippling Indian communications, radar, and missile guidance systems, Pakistan not only protected its own assets but also inflicted significant operational setbacks on India’s advanced air and missile forces.
Pakistan’s EW success is not a one-off event but part of a consistent pattern of superiority demonstrated since 2019. As future conflicts increasingly rely on multi-domain operations, Pakistan’s capabilities in the electromagnetic spectrum will remain a critical factor in maintaining regional balance and safeguarding national security.
India’s failure to counter Pakistan’s EW tactics effectively during this conflict reveals a strategic weakness that Islamabad can continue to exploit. The evidence is clear: in the invisible war of electronic dominance, Pakistan reigns supreme.
Pakistan’s integration of Chinese-origin systems like the KG300G/KG600 EW suites and DWL-002 passive radar underscores a deliberate strategy to exploit gaps in India’s sensor-shooter loops. The use of DRFM jamming to create false targets and degrade S-400 efficacy reveals a sophisticated understanding of India’s reliance on Russian platforms, which historically struggle against adaptive EW environments. The misdirection of BrahMos missiles—a system designed for terminal-phase evasion resistance—suggests Pakistan has mastered reactive jamming techniques, a feat that demands real-time signal analysis. This tactical edge in soft-kill measures ( neutralizing drones without kinetic strikes) could redefine cost-imposition strategies in asymmetric conflicts.