At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, there was a hole in India's air defense system.

What vulnerability?

The "Filcon", which arrived at noon, had been patrolling the war zone for 4 hours, and the remaining fuel was only enough to return to the airfield.

That is, the AWACS aircraft must return.

Refueling in the air?

Not to mention that these AWACS planes purchased by India do not have the ability to refuel in the air, and even if they do, the Indian Air Force will not arrange for the already small number of tankers to serve the AWACS planes.

Moreover, even if it is necessary to refuel in the air, the AWACS aircraft will have to retreat several hundred kilometers, and not in the airspace in front of the battlefield.

At that time, the Indian Air Force concluded that the Pakistan Air Force would take advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

For this reason, when the "Fercon" turned to return home, the Indian Air Force stepped up patrols and let all the more than 10 fighters on standby on the ground take off.

To put it simply, it is to make up for the lack of AWACS by throwing in more fighters.

In addition, the Indian Air Force has made tactical adjustments.

That is, let the Su-30MKI retreat, alert with its powerful passive phased array radar, which acts as a small AWACS aircraft.

Although the Su-30MKI does not have the ability to command air combat, as long as it detects an enemy aircraft, it can report to the ground command center, which will guide nearby fighters to intercept them, or organize other fighters to conduct large-scale air combat.

In fact, this is also a common tactic used by the Indian Air Force.

No way, because there are not enough AWACS aircraft, the Indian Air Force has to often make the Su-30MKI a cameo in the role of a small AWACS aircraft.

The problem is that the Pakistan Air Force did not take advantage of this opportunity to launch a raid.

Just after 5 o'clock, the returning "Fercon" arrived at the airport.

It took more than half an hour for the replacement "Fercon" to take off.

It's just that this AWACS aircraft needs to fly for at least 1 hour to reach the battlefield.

There is no way, high-value support aircraft such as AWACS aircraft have to be deployed in the rear, and it is impossible to put them on front-line airfields for the Pakistan Air Force to bomb.

That's when the problem comes.

What's the problem?

The Indian fighters that took off at about 4 o'clock had to return by 6 o'clock, and the fighters that took off at 2 o'clock in the afternoon had already returned by 5 o'clock.

Sadly, none of these Indian fighters could immediately take to the air for combat.

Why?

After returning home, the fighters must undergo the necessary maintenance, and the Indian Air Force's maintenance efficiency is probably the worst in the world.

You must know that in terms of the speed of the plane, India must be firmly in the first position among the few countries.

According to incomplete statistics, in the 21st century, India drops an average of nearly 30 planes per year.

If this is the case in peacetime, how good can it be in wartime?

Previously, the Indian Air Force had been blaming Russia, saying that the Russian fighter was too poorly maintained and that the service provided by the factory was not in place.

Really?

Huaxia also purchased a large number of Russian fighters, why didn't it often drop a few?

After the procurement of the F-16E/F, the Indian Air Force had nothing to say.

By the time the war broke out, the Indian Air Force had lost seven F-16E/Fs, but the final investigation found that at least five were caused by operational errors caused by pilots who were unfamiliar with American fighter jets, while the other two were caused by accidents caused by improper maintenance.

Really?

Not necessarily, I'm afraid

You must know that those who are qualified to fly F-16E/F are the elite of the Indian Air Force.

What's more, India is originally an English-speaking country, and it stands to reason that it should be easier to operate American fighters, and there will not be too much difficulty.

To put it bluntly, it is still a problem of the Indian Air Force itself, especially the quality of personnel.

You must know that the F-16E/F is originally a fighter that is easy to maintain, and the design emphasizes maintainability and sortie efficiency.

Dozens of countries around the world are equipped with F-16 fighter jets, and the accident rate is very low.

Why did the accident rate increase several times at once in the hands of the Indian Air Force?

What's more, the F-16E/F procured by India is the latest improved model, which is certainly guaranteed in terms of reliability, and is even much better than the previous model.

All in all, these returning Indian fighters will have to stay on the ground for at least a few hours.

At this time, how many Indian fighters are still in the air?

Less than ten!

At the nearby airbase, how many more Indian fighters are on standby?

Not a single one.

Of course, the Indian Air Force does not seem to see this as a problem.

Why?

It was already dark, and the replacement AWACS aircraft was about to arrive.

If the Pakistan Air Force did not launch a surprise attack after 4 o'clock, it would not have been possible to launch a surprise attack before dark, when the AWACS aircraft were about to arrive.

Apparently, the Indian Air Force made a mistake.

It was at this time that the Pakistani Air Force struck.

It was the JF-20 that still led the way.

Eight JF-20s challenge the Indian Air Force's F-16E/F fleet to the north, and all of these JF-20s are supported by the ZDK-05.

Immediately afterwards, 20 JF-17s from two squadrons began bombarding Indian positions north of Jalandal.

In any case, Pakistan is still focused on the Indian Army, and it seems that the effort to the north is to prevent the Indian Army from attacking.

The Indian Air Force immediately made adjustments, but it didn't make much sense.

AWACS aircraft have not yet arrived, and the F-16E / F, which is not supported by AWACS aircraft, is simply not enough to fight JF-20.

For the Indian Army near Jalandal, the catastrophe has only just begun.

Although 20 JF-17s is not a lot, these fighters carried all small-diameter bombs, and most of them were used against tank fighting vehicles.

To put it bluntly, these fighters are aimed at the Indian armored forces.

According to the battle report released by the Pakistan Air Force, in this bombing, the JF-17 group destroyed at least 100 main battle tanks of the Indian army.

Of course, the actual number is certainly not that much.

No matter how stupid the Indian army is, it knows how to set false targets.

Judging by the subsequent battles, this round of bombardment killed at most two armored battalions, and killed many more Indian officers and soldiers than destroyed tanks and combat vehicles.

Why?

Many JF-17s threw bombs at nearby Indian positions because they could not find a target.

Anyway, there is no need to return home with bombs.

Such a fierce bombing forced the Indian Air Force to adjust its prevention and control deployment.

The "Ferkang" was sent, and the fighter that had completed the maintenance was also sent to the vicinity of Jalandal after it took off.

In the eyes of the Indian Air Force, this may be just the beginning.

Let's not forget that in this direction, the Pakistani Air Force has almost 200 fighters, and now less than 30 are being put into service.

Where are the other fighters?

In addition, the Pakistani Air Force prefers to launch assaults at night.

That's right, it's really just the beginning.

However, the next blow was not near Jalandal, but near New Delhi.