The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been quietly shooting down high-altitude targets resembling Chinese spy balloons, with a Rafale fighter jet recently bringing down one in the eastern sector. This exercise took place a few months ago and involved using an air-to-air missile to destroy the target.

The IAF began preparing for such scenarios after a Chinese intelligence-gathering balloon, about 200 feet tall, flew over the United States for several days in early 2023. The balloon was eventually shot down by an American F-22 fighter jet using a missile. The US shared this information with India and other countries, which led the IAF to develop plans and procedures to handle similar situations.

Sources say that the IAF has been practising these tactics at various altitudes, including a recent demonstration where a Rafale jet targeted a balloon flying over 55,000 feet—higher than previous exercises. The balloon in this exercise was smaller than the one that entered US airspace, but it still had a payload.

Spy balloons like these are hard to detect and shoot down because they fly at very high altitudes and have low radar visibility. They can also send data quickly through "burst transmissions."

In early 2022, a balloon-like object was spotted over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but there was no response at the time because India as of now doesn't permanently station fighter jets in the area. However, IAF jets do conduct short-term operations there for exercises.

China regularly uses spy ships in the Bay of Bengal and the southern Indian Ocean to track missile launches and gather important data for submarine operations. The IAF has stationed its fleet of 36 Rafale jets at airbases in Hasimara and Ambala. Hasimara, in particular, is close to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction and the strategically important Siliguri Corridor near the Chinese border.