Pakistan tests Fa’az on JF-17 - India’s Op Sindoor vice chief sizes up the missile

Pakistan announced the first flight test of the Fa’az on November 3, describing it as the country’s first indigenously developed air-to-air missile. Footage showed the weapon launching from a JF-17 fighter. Pakistan’s military highlighted the missile’s guidance in the final stage of flight. The announcement left open how far it flew and whether it intercepted a target. Pakistan did not share further details.

In an exclusive interview on WION’s Defence Pulse, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari (R), who served as Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor, said the launch pointed to a broader effort by Pakistan to build its own weapons.

“I think it just shows a demonstration from the Pakistani side that they want to reduce the dependence on China and probably develop more indigenous capability,” Air Marshal Tiwari said.

He said Pakistan had stepped up efforts to improve its arsenal since Operation Sindoor mentioning there had been “a lot of push especially on extended range weapons” and pointed to work on improving accuracy, countering jamming and strengthening networks. He said Pakistan appeared “very focused to improve their capability” for a future confrontation.

Air Marshal Tiwari assessed that the Fa’az firing was likely an early test of how safely the missile separated from the aircraft and how it flew. Based on its size and the launch footage, he said, “I would think it will be in the region of, you know, 40 to 70, 80 km range kind of a class of weapon", putting it broadly in the same class as India’s Astra Mk 1. Pakistan has displayed radar-guided and imaging infrared versions of the Fa’az. The missile in the footage appeared to be the infrared version.

“JF-17 was quite widely used in Sindoor,” Air Marshal Tiwari ellaborate further when I asked him about his assessment of Pakistan's Chinese fighter jet. Asked him whether India’s Rafale had a clear edge over the JF-17, he replied, “Yes, definitely. Rafale is a different class of an aircraft altogether.” He said the newer JF-17 Block III could still be more effective than earlier versions because of its data links and extended weapons capability.

Air Marshal Tiwari also recalled the opening night of Operation Sindoor on May 6–7, 2025. Both sides had raised their readiness in the preceding two weeks, he said. When asked whether Pakistani jets had responded faster than India expected, he was direct. “We were not surprised by the speed at which they reacted,” Air Marshal Tiwari said, adding that the response was expected.

The interview on WION Defence Pulse, offered a rare look at how Pakistan is reshaping its air combat capabilities after Op Sindoor, from pursuing longer-range weapons to developing its own missiles to reduce reliance on China.