Air warfare communities in China, the U. S. and a number of European countries will be extremely interested to try and get as much ground truth as they can on tactics, techniques, procedures, what kit was used, what worked and what didn't,

You have arguably China's most capable weapon against the West's most capable weapon, if indeed it was being carried; we don't know that,

The PL-15 is a big problem. It is something that the U. S. military pays a lot of attention to,

The presence of Chinese military advisers and other personnel in Pakistan is well-known given how Pakistan's Ministry of Defence has been importing some of its most advanced military hardware from China, so we can be certain the PLA would be able to access relevant data,

A. S. Neill, security analyst

Both in terms of space and missile tracking capabilities, China is much better off now in terms of being able to monitor things as they happen,

There will be audits of what works and what doesn't work, but I think the other overlay is the proverbial fog of war,

A. S. Neill, security analyst

From an intelligence perspective, this is a rare target of opportunity right on China's borders involving a key potential adversary,

At the moment it's not possible to judge anything. We know so little,

This makes any engagement between India and Pakistan a de facto test environment for Chinese military exports,

These vessels may double up as listening posts, tracking development rhythms and response patterns, feeding early warning, naval intel to their sponsors,