In the early morning of May 7, a complex and large-scale modern aerial battle broke out between India and Pakistan, marking one of the most intricate conflicts in human history.

The advanced air forces of both countries deployed their aircraft, with 125 modern warplanes engaged in battle for over an hour. According to increasing disclosures, the key contributors aside from the widely discussed J-10 and PL-15 are another crucial element.

On May 7, local time, CNN reported that a Pakistani Defense Ministry official revealed to U.S. media that the aerial combat in the early morning of May 7 was the most complex and extensive modern large-scale air battle in human history, with both sides deploying over 125 various types of fighter jets, electronic warfare aircraft, and early warning aircraft. They launched a large number of air-to-air missiles at each other, among which the PL-15E air-to-air missile has a maximum range exceeding 160 kilometers. In other words, the actual lethal range of the PL-15E missile even surpasses its effective range of 145 kilometers.

According to Pakistani officials, the J-10CP fighter jets and JF-17 Block III "Thunder" fighter jets were almost fully deployed, along with electronic warfare drones, ZDK-03 early warning aircraft, and "Eye of Aegis" early warning aircraft forming a gradient configuration in the air. The Pakistani military acknowledged that approximately 50 to 60 fighter jets were deployed by the Pakistani forces, while the Indian military deployed about 70 to 80 fighter jets.

It is noteworthy that neither side's fighter jets entered the other's airspace, meaning the aerial combat was entirely a beyond-visual-range engagement, but almost all missiles fired by the Indian side failed to hit their targets.

It is worth mentioning that during this unprecedented large-scale air battle, the ZDK-03 early warning aircraft and "Eye of Aegis" early warning aircraft equipped by the Pakistan Air Force played a significant role. On one hand, the Pakistan Air Force could monitor the positioning and aerial dynamics of Indian Air Force aircraft in real-time through the early warning aircraft.

On the other hand, the ZDK-03 early warning aircraft (responsible for target guidance) and "Eye of Aegis" early warning aircraft (responsible for aerial surveillance) also primarily played the role of relaying guidance for the air-to-air missiles during this aerial combat operation. After the J-10CP and JF-17 Block III "Thunder" fighter jets launched PL-15E air-to-air missiles, they sent control information and commands to guide the missiles via the early warning aircraft and relay communication drones, thereby expanding the attack range of the missiles and allowing for beyond-visual-range strikes on targets. Thus, through these means, it was entirely possible to achieve a tactical action allowing the PL-15E missiles to reach ranges of over 160 kilometers.

Through this aerial combat, the Pakistan Air Force utilized the guidance capabilities of the ZDK-03 and "Eye of Aegis" early warning aircraft to fully demonstrate its beyond-visual-range indication and long-range interception capabilities, establishing a powerful maritime and aerial kill chain system through the aforementioned early warning mechanisms, and it is believed that the BeiDou global satellite positioning system was used.