Chinese AI firm exposes Pakistan Air Force and Navy assets

A Chinese AI firm, MizarVision, has publicly released satellite imagery and automated intelligence assessments exposing sensitive Pakistani military and naval assets. The disclosures include construction of reinforced hangars at the Pakistan Air Force’s Nur Khan base and the location of a Pakistan Navy submarine at a Sri Lankan port.

New Delhi: A Chinese AI firm released intelligence tracking information of Pakistani military installations and naval assets to the global public domain, a report said on Sunday, calling it “an extraordinary and highly calculated breach of operational security”.

The report in the Sunday Guardian noted that the exposure is not part of a Western intelligence operation or an Indian leak but a deliberate and granular disclosure.

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MizarVision, a Chinese commercial remote sensing and AI intelligence firm, has published high-definition satellite imagery and an automated assessment documenting “sensitive developments” at Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Nur Khan base and Pakistan Navy task group berthed at a Sri Lankan port.

Runway and infrastructure upgrades at PAF’s Nur Khan base were captured in an overhead surveillance log, which was captured on April 15. This was processed through an automated AI object-detection system.

The report revealed “the rapid construction of a reinforced concrete hangar measuring roughly 50-70 metres in length and 20-30 metres in width, designed to shelter between two and four medium multirole fighter aircraft, specifically identifying Chinese-supplied JF-17 Block III and J-10C fighters, as well as other high-value aviation assets”.

The assessment also characterised the new structure as a reactive measure intended to reduce vulnerability. The construction site is adjacent to an impact point of an Indian stand-off cruise missile from recent attacks.

Another revelation comes from material dated June 5, where “MizarVision released high-resolution imagery showing a Pakistan Navy task group berthed at a Sri Lankan port. Prominently identified by the platform’s automated classification systems was a Pakistani Agosta-90B diesel-electric attack submarine operating alongside escort frigates. The software automatically outlined and tagged the vessels, effectively exposing the submarine’s location and undermining its principal operational advantage, stealth, while deployed outside Pakistani waters”.

The report noted that the intense competition within China’s military-industrial ecosystem is a better answer to the paradox of a Chinese entity publicly revealing the vulnerabilities of Pakistan, “Beijing’s closest regional partner”.

“The continued availability of these disclosures on Chinese platforms, despite China’s tightly controlled information environment, suggests alignment with broader state objectives,” the report said.

The message to Pakistan appears to be one of strategic vulnerability and technological dependence, where its sensitive defence assets, including attack submarines, can be located and identified publicly “Beijing effectively signals that Islamabad possesses little operational privacy”.